Chaos is Coming
by FantasiesDreaming
Summary: Sam and Dean are working a case together. It turns out to be the biggest thing they've ever come across. Bigger than angels and bigger than demons. And one girl seems to be at the center. Rated T for minor language and set sometime after Road Trip, so spoilers. No slash.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! So this is my first fanfic I've ever written so far... *giggles nervously* So please, please review! I've been thinking this out for a while, and I finally decided to put it on paper. I've read all these amazing fanfics on this site, so I figured I should write my own! Enjoy! :)**

**AN: This is me from the future, asking you to check out my publication on Medium! It's called Teen Trek, and I'd really really reeeeaaaally love for you to comment on and follow it! If you'd like to write for the publication, email me at grangerarya at gmail dot com.**

**xxxxxx**

Sam sighed with frustration. He and Dean were getting nowhere with this case. Nine men, women, and teens from all over the strangely pleasant town they were camped out at had all gone to the local police station and confessed to certain crimes. Killing their wife a year ago, hitting a dog with their car the previous week, cheating on a test at school. At first, Dean suggested it could be Veritas, the not-so nice Roman goddess of truth whom they'd dealt with earlier. However, the vics simply confessed what they had done in the past, so that didn't fit the pattern. Also, they'd ganked Veritas, so that was out of the question. It was obviously something supernatural, though, as nine people in a row in one place wouldn't admit to those things after they'd gotten away with it.

They'd traveled all the way to Happtown, California for this simply to do something. Ever since the trials and especially since Kevin had died, both brothers needed to keep their minds busy. Anything to keep them from thinking about past events was a welcome relief. They seized at the opportunity to do something even though it was quite trivial, because the rest of the country was surprisingly normal and functioning fine for now.

However, once they settled down in the cheap motel and Sam did a little digging, he found that small, but strange things had been going on around the town recently. Two accidental deaths by car crash. Dogs and cats suddenly going rabid. There had even been an event where some teens claimed they had seen a blinding flash of light in a park a few months ago. In a town like this, hearing rumors like that was more than easy to do, but each teen they had interrogated as feds reported seeing something different, leaving the Winchesters completely clueless.

The door banged open and Sam looked up as Dean shuffled inside, throwing a few bags of chips onto the table and plopping onto the bed.

"No luck with the vics, huh?" Sam asked.

"Nope. No sulfur, no EMF, no nada. And the vics," he sarcastically chuckled. "The vics, well, they're convinced that they 'have seen the right path and must make amends.'"

"Angel, maybe? Rogue confess-your-crimes arc angel? I mean, that would explain the white light those kids saw," Sam suggested.

"Nah, don't think so. It just didn't feel like angel mojo, you know?" Dean sighed. "I'm getting real tired of this case. I mean, this is gonna sound weird, but I am literally dying from boredom right now. Nothing's happening," Dean said.

"No, I get what you mean. But something's gotta be happening, it's not like we've had an outburst of suddenly relenting people."

"But what if they did?" Dean retaliated. "What if we've got some real nice people who have gone for the goody good path of life and are making the world a great place, and soon it'll only be rainbows and gushy love all around?"

Sam snorted. "Yeah. That'll happen." He leaned back in his chair, grabbed the nearest bag of chips, and popped it open. "You know, I was looking at the different events, trying to connect them, and most of them all seem to be related to this one high school." Dean leaned forward, interested, and gestured for Sam to continue. "We've got the teens who confessed, who all go to… Here it is, Amaral Mountain High School. And the other vics are parents of students there. Might be a lead." Sam looked questioningly at his older brother.

"Better than nothing," Dean decided, chucking his empty chips bag neatly into the trash can. "Let's pull the fed suits tomorrow morning."

xxxxxxxxx

The bell rang loudly and the mass of students started moving from all over the parking lot towards their first class of the day. Dean looked around warily as he and Sam were buffeted by the adolescents. One rather bulky looking boy sniggered as he walked by, whispering quite loudly to his friend, "What a shitty car, man, who even drives an Impala now?"

"There a problem?" Dean asked, glaring at him.

"Oh no, man," smirked the kid. "Just…" He gave a start as he looked up at Dean, realizing his suit and tie. "Oh." And with that, he hurriedly scooted away from the two brothers. Dean nudged an amused Sam and asked grouchily, "That guy seem shifty to you?"

"Definitely. But I don't think he's our guy, Dean. Half of these kids probably do things that would make them want to run record speed the moment they see a cop or fed," Sam explained. "So, you wanna split up? You talk to the principal, see if anything strange is going on, and I'll question the kids?" he suggested.

"Yeah. I aint interviewing these punks," Dean huffed, and he stormed away as Sam gave a small smile.

Sam decided the best tactic would be to go to random classes and ask to pull out the kid nearest to the door. The first few were obnoxious but ignorant, another few trembling but clueless. One of them let him in on some big gossip: everyone knew that Sid was the guy who had taken photos of a final exam and posted it on the web, but nobody expected him to confess. Apparently, he was arrogant, and he had insulted a group of sophomore girls right before he went up to the police station. _Ok, _Sam thought. _That's something. Could be an aspiring witch. _Sam got a list of all the girls' names from the gossiper – _Jeez, in this town everyone knows everyone else's business,_ - and set off once again with a slight sense of purpose.

xxxxxxx

"Hello. I'm Agent Mccoy, and I was just wondering, could I borrow, uh, Olivia Madan for a few moments?" Sam asked. Immediately all the students started murmuring and turned their heads towards a small, thin girl who looked petrified. "Don't worry, you're not in trouble," Sam reassured. "Just a few routine questions," Sam addressed the teacher, who nodded, and the girl slowly got out of her seat and followed Sam outside. "You really don't need to worry, Olivia. Just a few questions." The girl just gulped and nodded. "Alright," Sam said, smiling in a way he hoped would ease the kid. "Do you know Sid Booma?"

"Yeah," she said, obviously confused.

"Anything you can tell me about him?" Sam asked gently. Olivia shrugged. "Anything at all?" he asked again.

"Well, he was… not very nice," she offered. _Ok,_ Sam thought. _That's a start. _Sam chuckled encouragingly, and the girl visibly relaxed.

"So I heard," Sam told her. "Didn't he say some rude things to you before he went to the police station?" This was obviously the wrong thing to say. Living the life he did, Sam had learned how to tell what people were thinking, and he could practically see the girl racing through thoughts as to how she could be related to what got her classmate suspended.

"Yeah," she said reluctantly. "He was always rude, but… that was the first time he said something directly… To us. I mean, my group. Not just – not just me," she said breathlessly.

"Ok." Sam knew when he had exhausted a witness. "Thanks for your cooperation. Go ahead and go back to your class." Olivia slowly backed away and re-entered her classroom. Sam sighed. He still had six more girls on the list. This was going to be a long day.

xxxxxxx

"Nothing unusual at all?" Dean asked, bored and uninterested.

"Nothing at all, sir," principal Tom replied hurriedly. He was new, and did not expect a fed interrogation on his first year on the job. "The kids here are angels." This elicited a great snort from Dean, to which Tom stuttered, "I mean, of course, they're kids, you know kids, of course, but much nicer than other places, of course, a lot less bullying and just a really great school, you know," he stammered. "And it must be something in the air, but all these kids are being honest now, you know, which is of course one of our valued traits in this school, of course, but you know how kids are, but now especially they just… you know."

"Yeah," Dean said exasperatedly. "I know. Well, let me know if there is anything strange happening, alright Tom?" Tom nodded vigorously.

Dean left the office and called up Sam right away. "Hey," he said once Sam picked up.

"Hey. Got anything?" Sam asked.

"Nada. You?"

"Not much. Remember that vic named Sid who confessed to uploading test papers online?"

"Yeah," Dean replied. "So?"

"Well, apparently this Sid was a douche, and he just so happened to go all goody right after he insulted some sophomore girls here," Sam said.

"Huh. Never insult girls in high school, man. I learned that the hard way," Dean said smirking.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I'm going through the list of the girls, interviewing them. Next one is at room D-3."

"Great. I'll be there. Let's go talk us up some teenagers."

xxxxxx

25 minutes later, and all but one of the girls interrogated, Dean groaned. "Why do they all act like we're poisonous? And it's not just them – all of these kids!"

"Well, I'm guessing because this is such a small town, getting singled out by a cop is scary for them," Sam reasoned. "Anyway, let's just do this last one and go."

Dean groaned again. "Like we're gonna get any info from this one. None of them have any clue! I'm starting to think there's no case here, Sam." Dean looked at Sam, but Sam shook his head.

"Nah, I have a feeling. Come on, we're almost done." With that, he opened the classroom door –

"GUILTY!" bellowed the teacher in the front of the room, and he brought down a shovel onto a stuffed Yoda doll propped up on a chair as the students laughed and roared like wild animals. The teacher glanced up, and when he saw the two men in suits, he grinned and gestured with the shovel for them to speak.

"Well, it seems like we're interrupting something important," Dean said smoothly.

"Oh, that's fine. You just witnessed the beautiful execution of King Louis XVI," he replied with a tone equally as easy. Sam and Dean shared amused looks with each other. Having travelled around a lot as kids, they knew a good teacher when they saw one.

"Well, we're Agents Harken and Mccoy, and we just wanted to pull out an Arya Johnson to ask a few questions," Sam said cheerfully. Once again, like all the previous times, all students swiveled their heads to look at another skinny teenage girl, but unlike the others, she didn't seem frightened, but rather… wary.

"I KNEW IT!" the teacher cried. "Arya, you're in a lot of trouble. If you have any last words, feel free to express them to the class."

The girl's face quickly transformed from the wary face, and she just gave everyone a dazzling smile and strolled out of the classroom, waving cheekily to her friends as she exited the door. Sam and Dean followed her out, and gave each other surprised looks, as this was extremely different behavior compared to her friends.

"Well, thanks for coming out here, we just have a few questions we wanted to ask you," Sam began formally.

"So, you guys are FBI agents?" she interrupted. "Like, with the ID and everything? Can I see it?" she said, sounding interested, but the brothers could hear the hidden challenge for them to prove who they were.

"Sure thing, kid," Dean replied, flashing Sam a hey-she-seems-like-serious-stuff glance, and then flashing his badge. Sam did the same. For some reason, the badge confirmation seemed to amuse her, and a small smile played on her lips.

"Fire away," she said serenely.

"Ok, then. Do you know Sid?" Dean asked directly.

"Yup."

"We heard he insulted your group of friends right before he confessed to the cops about what he did," Dean continued.

"Yup."

"Um…" Dean looked at Sam for help.

"Anything strange or unusual about his behavior? Or any of your friends, perhaps? Or anything at all?" Sam threw in.

Arya smiled an easy smile, which would have fooled anyone, but Sam could see from experience that it didn't travel to her eyes, which seemed incredibly old for her age and were scanning both him and his brother as if they were looking for something. "Nope," she replied. "I was surprised when he went and confessed. I'm guessing if you've heard that he insulted my group of friends, you've probably talked to them, so you know that he was quite a douchebag." She smiled again when the brothers exchanged surprised looks. "What?" she said indignantly. "I'm not stupid. It's obvious you did. So, anything else?"

Dean was about to say no, but Sam cut in and hurriedly said, "Well, if you feel like letting us know anything more, feel free to call us," and he handed her a business card. She looked at him questioningly, but her mouth said in a convincing indifferent teenager voice, "Sure." As she reached out to take the card, her shirt sleeve shifted, revealing part of a design on her arm that looked suspiciously like…

"Is that a tattoo?" Dean asked cautiously. "You know you're underage for that, right?" Sam internally praised Dean for understanding and playing along. He had seen part of it and had wanted to know what it was, because…

"No," she said, not very convincingly. "It's just marker," she claimed confidently.

"Right," Sam said, disbelief dripping from his voice. "I'm gonna need you to show us that," he said as officially as possible. Arya's eyes shifted between the two Winchesters, and it was obvious she was caught. Resentfully, she shifted her shirt sleeve up, revealing an anti-demonic possession tattoo on her arm. She quickly covered it back, knowing she was trapped, but regardless asked, "So, can I go back in?"

Dean whistled. "Where'd you get that?"

"It's marker."

"Are you a hunter?" Sam asked, his eyes piercing hers. Straight to the chase then.

"What's that?" she asked, and then, without another word, slipped back into the class.

Sam and Dean looked at each other.

"Definitely our lead?" Sam asked.

"Definitely our lead."

**xxxxxx**

**So, what did you think so far? Please let me know! More chapters to come!**


	2. Chapter 2

**FantasiesDreaming: Hello again! I'm really excited to put this up -  
>School: EXCUSE ME PEASANT. YOU SHOULD BE STUDYING. AFTER ALL YOU HAVE ENGLISH AND HISTORY FINALS. TOMORROW. *intense glare*<br>FantasiesDreaming: Oh y-yeah... uh hehehe... Well, you know what they say! When finals are tomorrow, SCREW IT ALL AND WRITE FANFIC YEAHHH **

**Enjoy!**

**xxxxxxx**

"I don't understand where she became such a great actress, though," Sam proclaimed, back at the hotel. "I mean, that girl – Arya – was pretty convincing except for a few tells."

"She has the hunter look, man, I'm telling you," Dean responded, looking through her records Sam had accessed online. "The whole 'seeing too much for your time' gig? She was that 200%. How she's related to this, though… Hang on a minute. Sam, look at this." Sam leaned in to read off what Dean had pulled up on the computer.

"15 year old sophomore... A and A+ student… Citizenship award… What? Normal outstanding student." With a pang, he remembered Kevin.

"No, no, no, look at this," Dean said, oblivious to the reference. "Nine excused absences supposedly called in by a parent. Programmed not to show up on the transcript. Exactly when our vics confessed." Dean lightly slapped the computer and leaned back satisfied. "That's a lot of coincidences."

"You're right," Sam agreed, scrolling through the records some more. "But she's definitely human, and witches can only make things happen, not make people change their minds…"

"Maybe she has some psychic abilities. I don't know, guy insults her friends, she makes him get himself suspended? Seems pretty legit, man."

"I guess so. And she was friends with the kids whose parents confessed too. So maybe… parent gives the kid a bad day, she decides to get back for her friend?" Sam suggested.

"It fits," Dean said. "I mean, now it's not harmful and all, but later…" He trailed off, shifting his eyes first at Sam and then to the ground. Sam shifted uncomfortably as he remembered his psychic abilities he used to have and how they changed him – or atleast, how everyone thought they would. Suddenly, he felt a pang of sympathy for the girl.

"So what do you suppose we do?" Sam asked, trying to keep his voice casual.

"Well, we uh… we go tell her to stay good, or things get bad. For her." He looked at Sam and shrugged.

"Seriously?"

"You got any other idea? I'm all ears," Dean retorted.

Sam sighed resignedly. "Fine. Let's go find her house."

xxxxxx

Sam and Dean pulled up by the curb and parked their beloved Impala by the lush green grass of the typical American front lawn for the typical American house. Dean whistled. "Dang," he said, a slight trace of wistfulness in his voice. Sam gazed up at the mahogany door of the two-story house. "Dang," he echoed.

They walked up to the door and Sam rang the doorbell. After a few moments, he rang it again. Nothing happened.

"FBI," Dean yelled into the door. "Open up!"

Nothing happened.

Dean looked over at Sam and shrugged. "Nobody home then. Let's come back-"

"Shh." Sam motioned him to be quiet. A phone had just started ringing very close to the door, only to be turned off rapidly. "Come on, we know you're in there." Sam called. "We're not here to arrest you. We just want to talk." A few more moments passed by.

"Don't make us break down the door," Dean threatened impatiently. Finally, the door opened up a crack, and Arya's eye peeked out and intelligently scanned them over.

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly.

"We just want to talk," Sam replied as gently as he could. "That's all. We promise."

Arya looked at the two Winchesters, worry etched on her face. She scanned the area around them quickly, then opened the door slowly. "Come in. Oh, um, take your shoes off."

Sam and Dean complied and quietly stepped inside. Arya carefully closed the door and cautiously turned to face them.

"So, we just want to ask-"

"Are you guys serious?" Arya cried, her worried face melting into an indignant one as she fell back onto the sofa with ease. "What the heck took you guys so long?"

"What? Wha-"

"You're lucky you _finally_ came now, because my parents are coming back home in a half hour, so that's how much time we have," she continued as if she wasn't interrupted.

"Hold on a minu-"

"Jeez, I was getting worried that Sam and Dean were as thick as their reputation says they are and that you guys didn't take the hint, and I was thinking how I would contact you without-"

"Arya!" Sam interjected. "What do you mean took so long? And what hint? And how do you know who we are?"

Arya rolled her eyes and stared up at them intently. "The whole acting ignorant and at ease but trying to hide the shifty hunter look thing," she responded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "That hint." She paused to gauge the brothers' expressions, and obviously dissatisfied by their lack of understanding, said, "The try-to-get-them-suspicious maneuver and reveal part of my anti-possession tattoo so that they decide I'm causing the weird things going on and come talk to me privately thing." She looked at them patronizingly, like a mother trying to explain to three year olds that one plus one equals two.

Dean looked at her, astonished. "You mean to say that was all planned out acting?" he asked disbelievingly. She raised her eyebrows as if to say, _duh._ "Damn. You're good," he admitted grudgingly, causing her to beam at the praise. She quickly stopped, though, looking up rapidly to check to make sure they didn't see. Dean pretended he hadn't. He knew that this was a sign of a kid who didn't get praised often, and good actress or not, she couldn't hide everything.

"So…" Sam still struggled to understand. "You _aren't _psychic?"

For the briefest portion of a millisecond, a strange expression crossed her face that Sam couldn't really identify, but the next moment, it was gone. "No… although sometimes I wish I was. It would be nice to be able to figure out all the answers to the test before I take it," she thought out loud, smirking.

"Wait a minute – you never told us how you know our names," Dean stated.

"Please. Every hunter talks about you guys. _The_ Sam and _the_ Dean Winchester… I'm surprised there are people out there who _don't _know you guys."

"So then… You _are _a hunter?" Sam asked, still perplexed.

"Um… kind of," she replied, unsure of her words. "I mean… I know everything that exists, but… I don't really have the… the tools to kill them."

"Damn right you don't," Dean said firmly. "I'm glad your parents have the sense not to get you into this crap." Sam glanced at him, slightly surprised at his vehemence.

"Well…" she trailed off, then looked up at them again. "They don't know anything, actually. They're perfectly normal. I just ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time one day, and ended up learning the hard way. I kept my mouth shut so I didn't seem crazy, and then I decided I might as well learn as much as I can, because, who knows when something will happen again? So I taught myself." She paused and gazed at them, as if waiting to see how they'd react.

There was an awkward silence as Sam and Dean processed how mature she sounded for her age. "Well," Sam said, with a strained smile, "I don't suppose you know what the hell is making these people go truth-loving good citizens?"

"Yeah, and why did we needa come speak privately?" Dean added.

"That's the thing," Arya said, her eyebrows constricted. "I excused myself from school - posing as my parents, obviously - and followed them and did the whole gig, but I still have no clue what it is. And that's saying something, because trust me, I know _everything_. What?" she asked, annoyed at Sam and Dean's smirks. "I had waay too much time on my hands, so I learned everything. Betchya don't know what a Carlack is," she said with a huff.

Sam's eyes narrowed, and he said amusedly, "No, you're making that up."

"Keep telling yourself that," she replied, looking pleased. "The point is, I don't know what it is, but that's not what I'm worried about. I'm worried about the other strange stuff."

"What other strange stuff?" Dean asked incredulously. "You mean the flash of light?"

"And the two kids getting killed, and the wacko animal fest. Those are the things I'm worried about, because they're a lot more violent and ominous. And unlike other cases, this is too big and spread out without getting noticed. So I can't solve this on my own this time," she said as she looked up at the brothers expectantly.

"Watched by who?" Dean asked, at the same time Sam said, "'This' time? You've done this before?"

Arya cocked her head curiously and studied Sam, as if gauging how much to tell him. "I keep an eye out, I do as much as I can, and I make it obvious once I'm done so that another hunter can come finish the job. This time it's you guys. Although, you actually managed to find me, which is good, because you'll need all the help you can get." Sam and Dean stared at her, completely confounded. "Yes, help from a 15 year old who knows more than you. Get over it."

"Who's watching you?" Dean asked again. Arya scoffed.

"It's a small town. Usually I can chalk it up to going to the library and excuses like that, but this is too far out, and people will talk if they see me doing strange things. Unlike you guys, I have to live here for longer than a week, so I have a reputation to keep. Here, give me your actual numbers – not your fake fed one – and we can text through that." She glanced up at the clock and jumped up suddenly. "Crap! You guys gotta go now. If my mom comes home and sees feds in the house, she'll freak out… Here's my number. And leave like you're unhappy that I'm absolutely normal and good and unrelated to crime. I'll text you more info." Then she looked up at them and smiled a genuine smile. "I like you guys," she said, as if something was very funny. Then she opened the door, and when she turned back to face them, her face and transformed into a frightened, yet relieved teenager, who definitely wasn't a hunter. "Um… bye," she said uncertainly.

_Damn, she's incredible. And smart,_ Dean thought. Sam thought the same, as he said "You be good now," managing to sound slightly disgruntled. As they walked towards their car, Dean thought he felt a small gust of wind, but when he turned around, nothing was there but a slight chill on the back of his neck. He looked at Sam and they thought the same thing. Someone – or something - was messing with this kid's hometown. And they were going to help her out.

Arya watched the Impala glide away from the window, her face once again transforming into a conflicted one full of shadows.

"He's right about one thing, darling," a voice snarled darkly from behind her, and she almost jumped out of fear. "You are certainly one _great_ actress." Arya closed her eyes and pretended she couldn't hear him.

**xxxxx**

**So, how was it? I like how it's going so far... let me know what you think! I would really LOVE your reviews :) Please review, review, and rev-  
>School: SERIOUSLY THOUGH. GO STUDY.<br>FantasiesDreaming: *sigh...**


	3. Chapter 3

**FantasiesDreaming: Hello, my favorite people! Guess what? I'm FREEEE :D  
>Finals: Is she allowed to be happy now?<br>School: Hmph... You're over... so technically she's not under our control anymore. For the moment.  
>FantasiesDreaming: AHAHAHA TAKE THAT! I'M GONNA WRITE ANOTHER CHAPTER NOW!<br>School: *narrows eyes* We're not done here... We'll get you next semester. *Ominous laughter**

**Til then, enjoy! This is where the big plot is introduced and things get interesting :)**

**xxxxxx**

"So we've ruled out angel, demon, wendigo, wraith, shifter… Anything we _haven't _crossed off the list?" Dean asked tiredly.

Sam pushed away a large stack of thick books on his desk at the hotel and sat back. "Nothing," he replied. "Which means that we're dealing with something we've never seen before, and we have no idea how to kill it."

Dean let out a bitter chuckle. "Awesome." His phone vibrated and he picked it up, and a few moments later said, "Hey, check it out. Arya says here to go to 'Best Burritos' at 1:00 today and to pick up something she'll leave on her table. And uh, 'no eye contact'." Dean flashed one of his big, happy smiles at his brother. "Looks like things are looking up! We're gonna get burritos for lunch!"

30 minutes later, Dean bit into his burrito and closed his eyes with satisfaction. "Naw thish," he spluttered with his mouth full, "isha guh burrituh."

Sam raised his eyebrows, and said, "Can you not do that? It's kinda disturbing." The sound of the door of the mini restaurant opening made him turn his head. "Oh look, there she is." He quickly looked back at Dean so that it didn't seem like he was staring at the teen. "How many are there?"

"Jush huh an-"

"Dean. Seriously."

After a magnificent swallow, Dean continued on. "Just her and, uh," - he did a quick count – "seven other friends. Damn, they're loud."

"Yeah. No need to keep their heads down and look over their shoulder, I guess," Sam replied wistfully. After a few moments, he said, "Kinda makes you wonder what kind of life she's living." He looked at Dean thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked, confused. "A normal life with lots of friends and a nice, normal house. We've seen enough of others like that."

"No, not exactly. The people we see either know the supernatural and fight or don't know. She's just… in the middle," Sam said.

"Like Charlie?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah, but 15 years old."

Dean shrugged. "I don't know man. She finds her middle zone, that's great. She's the only kid I know crazy enough to _want _to learn about all this supernatural crap."

"Yeah, after her encounter." Sam glanced quickly at the rambunctiously loud teen throwing chips at the guy next to her, laughing. "Whatever that encounter was."

Another 30 minutes later, the group of teens shuffled out of the chairs, slowly making their exit. As she got up, Arya expertly dropped something from her jacket in a way that no one else in the store could see but Sam and Dean. Dean gave a slight whistle as the kids left, and whispered to Sam, "Seriously man, where the hell did she learn stuff like that? Even I can't do that smooth of a drop." After all, the Winchesters had had a lot of experience with having to "accidentally" drop something so that the other brother could pick up a trail.

Sam shrugged, got up, and walked towards the soda machine to refill his drink. As he came back, he stumbled and placed his hand on the empty table to steady himself. He neared Dean and muttered, "Got it. Let's go."

Back in the hotel, Dean said, "Ok, let's see what we had to pull a whole Mission-Impossible-meets-Spy-Kids stunt to get." Sam took out a small note from his pocket. "'Forgot and thought you might want this. Picked it up with gloves, found by flashing light and dead kids and animals,'" he read off of the note. He unfolded it, and inside was a tiny case filled with ugly, thick, black goo.

"Well, this might have been very helpful to know 24 hours ago!" Dean exclaimed. "What is it, hectoplasm?"

"No…" Sam had already opened it and was gazing at it intently. "It's too thick for that…"

Sam reached out to touch it, when suddenly Dean was hit full-on with a very bad feeling. "Sammy, wai-"

Sam's whole body went rigid the moment his finger came into contact with the goo. The case dropped to the floor as Sam keeled over, his face tense and frozen with fear and pain. "Sammy!" Dean cried. "Sammy, talk to me! What's going on? Sammy!" It was no use. Sam was lost in another world of hurt and his eyes were glazed over.

Jess was right there. She walked into the bedroom late at night, and sat gently on the bed. _No_, Sam thought. _No, Jess! Get out of here! You're not-_ She screamed as she was dragged onto the ceiling, and the whole place smelled of burning flesh, and Sam's tears wouldn't stop, and he screamed himself hoarse to help her, but he couldn't. Suddenly, the scene changed. He was with Jo, and he was hurting her. He was pushing her down and his eyes gleamed black. _Stop,_ Sam thought, broken. But he couldn't. The demon was controlling him, he could not move himself. And deep inside where he was raging a losing battle against it, it told him, _See? There's nothing wrong with this. You like this,_ it said triumphantly. _No! _he yelled at himself, and the scene changed again, and Lucifer loomed over him and smiled confidently, saying, _It had to be you, Sam. It always had to be you… _

_No,_ Sam sobbed internally, because he couldn't speak, he couldn't see, he didn't know where he was, and what was that light glaring into his eyes, why was he suddenly in a hotel room and why was a man in a trench coat staring at him? He blinked a few times and the room gradually came into focus, and he suddenly remembered who he was and where he was, and he immediately looked around to make sure Dean was ok.

"Sammy? Sammy! I'm here." Dean sounded relieved. "Damn it, Sam, why the hell did you touch that thing? You should know better than that!" Dean choked on his words and swallowed down his fear of losing his only brother, and Sam could tell he wasn't really angry.

"N-not hectoplasm," Sam said weakly. Dean snorted as Sam looked up at Cas, who was standing by him and looking worried. "Thanks, Cas, for… whatever you did."

"You're welcome," he replied in his gruff voice. "You are lucky. If Dean hadn't called me and I hadn't reached in time, you would probably be dead. Whatever you experienced was literally tearing you up from the inside." Dean looked at Sam sharply, who murmured, "I, uh, I saw some… some things." Dean narrowed his eyes but knew not to push it any further. Cas looked at both of them, obviously puzzled about what they were thinking, and then bent down and picked up the small case of goo.

"What is this?" he asked.

"I was hoping you could tell us," Dean replied, confused. "That's what Sam touched when he went all wacko right now."

Cas held it up to the light and examined it carefully. After a few moments, he told them, "I've never seen anything like it. It's not hectoplasm."

"Yeah, we know," Dean said, slightly exasperated. "Hectoplasm doesn't make you have a little hell fit the moment you touch it."

"It's incredibly… old," Cas continued, as if Dean hadn't spoken. "The only thing older than the things I've seen that matches this is… No, it can't be." He placed the case on the table and turned away, looking troubled.

"What?" Sam asked. "What can't it be?"

Cas faced them and said gravely, "There's only one thing that is this old and leaves this venomous substance every time it strikes. Well, it's not really a thing," he added. "More like the most powerful entity that has existed since the dawn of time, before humans or even I was created."

"Wait," Dean interrupted. "So you're saying, whatever this is is older than you? You're like, what, 2000 years old!"

"Older than me, older than God, and a hundred times more powerful than all the angels and God are combined." He paused as he took in Sam and Dean's incredulous expressions. "I know this must be… surprising," he added unsurely.

"Surprising?" Dean asked skeptically. "You just told us that this... this thing has more mojo than anything, and that it's existed forever, and nobody knows? Pretty damn surprising!"

"Well, it should be, given that he was locked up this whole time," Cas continued. "Chaos – that's what this entity calls itself, Chaos-"

"Wonderful. I like him already," Dean said sarcastically.

Cas glanced at Dean curiously. "After seeing what his venom did to your brother, I'm surprised that you can bring yourself to actually like this-"

"No, no, Cas, that's… He's being sarcastic. Keep going," Sam said quickly.

Cas broke off his gaze, still confused, but continued. "Chaos was locked up by the Seeker. The Seeker is the only person with power strong enough to rival Chaos," he added after seeing the confused looks on the Winchesters' faces. "The Seeker was actually a spirit – not ghost-like, but just a spirit – and every 100 years it found the wisest and kindest person living at the time – always a wise old man – and resided in him, giving him all of its power and temporary immortality."

"So…" Sam said slowly. "If this Seeker matches this thing - Chaos - in power, what you're saying is that the one guy it chose had… what did you say? 'A hundred times more power than all the angels and God combined'?" He gave Dean a questioning look.

"And this never blew up in the Seeker's face?" Dean finished for him. "I mean, I'm sure they all started nice, but that kind of power never ends well for a guy, does it?"

"You're right, it didn't," Cas agreed. "God managed to make an alliance with the Seeker many centuries ago, and… What was it?" The angel scrunched up his face trying to remember. "I'm sorry, this was so long ago I find it hard to recall," he admitted.

"That's fine, Cas," Sam said kindly. "Just tell us what you can."

Cas thought a while longer, and then he grunted. "God held open the gates to… to Purgatory, and the Seeker fought an exhausting battle and managed to trap Chaos in there. That way humans could progress without being killed off by Chaos and… oh." Cas stopped and stared at his large shoes.

"What?" Sam asked.

"That's why Chaos is free again. It's… it's my fault. I freed him when I opened the gates," he said, disheartened.

"Come on, Cas, this isn't on you," Dean said, his instinctual compassion kicking in. "Besides, that was a couple years ago. It doesn't make sense that he'd start attacking only now."

"No, actually, it does," Cas stated. "He would need some time to recuperate. He was in there for over 3000 years," he said factually. "And now he is up to full strength… It does make sense."

"So he's making people confess to their crimes?" Dean asked incredulously. "That doesn't seem too bad."

"That isn't him," Cas said as he shook his head. "Everything else though, the rabid animals sensing when he's nearby, and the car crashes, those are his work. Although why he is resorting to very trivial accidents is beyond me. Chaos has the capacity to wipe out the world just by thinking it. Perhaps he is simply starting small."

Sam looked at Dean worriedly. "Well, what about the Seeker?" he asked Cas. "Can't we get his help? Get him to trap Chaos again?"

"No," Cas replied sadly. "Like Dean said, without anything to fight and use his abilities on, the Seeker grew abusive of his power until the spirit left him to die. Since then, there has been no need of it to inhabit anybody, and nobody worthy of it anyway. No one, not even me, knows where it is now."

"So then… Is there any way to kill Chaos? Or trap him without this… this Seeker?" Dean asked.

"No. Chaos can not be killed. He is immortal. I will have to look for another solution for trapping him in Purgatory without the Seeker's aid. And I should warn you, he doesn't just kill," Cas said gravely. "He creates chaos in many forms. He causes misunderstanding and violence and sews seeds of distrust amongst people. Then he feeds off of the chaos and sorrow he created, and eventually finishes off the people he has manipulated, growing stronger each time he strikes. And he leaves this," – he gestured at the case of black venom – "wherever he goes to harm those who stumble upon his victims after."

There was an awkward silence as the boys took all of the information in. "Well, this is just wonderful," Dean grumbled finally.

Cas looked at him as if he was growing a horn out of his forehead. "I do not understand how this is wonderful. In fact, it's as far from wonderful as-"

"Cas, he's not… just let it go."

**xxxxxx**

**Phew! So... got the big bad wolf introduced! What do you think? Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you so much for the kind reviews mb64 and lilliannaelizabeth! You guys are the best :)  
>Well, without further ado, here's the next chapter!<strong>

**xxxxx**

_Where am I going again? I ask myself. _

_Doesn't matter, something inside me tells me. Keep going. You're getting close. _

_I can feel that I'm getting close even without that strange voice in me telling me. Each step I take forward releases me from my human chains. All my worries float away, and a feeling of longing to unite with this other part of me emerges. I have been broken this whole time. Now I will be free._

xxxxxx

"Dean, we should probably tell Arya what we found out," Sam said.

"Heck no. I'm not dragging her into this Chaos crap! She's 15, she doesn't need to know."

"But Dean, from what Cas told us, Chaos is pretty damn cunning. What if he's been watching her since she picked up his venom from the crime scene?"

Dean stopped walking, and then he shook the milk carton they had just bought in frustration. "Son of a bitch!" he yelled. "You're right… Sam?" he trailed off, gazing at Sam. His eyes were far away, and Dean got the feeling that he wasn't listening.

_He flicked his finger and Cas exploded… Then with a twist of his wrist, Bobby's neck snapped… _

"Sam?" Sam was brought back by Dean's voice, and he shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"Traces of the… the venom," Sam muttered.

Dean nodded, but his gut clenched with concern. _He barely touched the crap and he's suffering this much, _Dean thought. _What if there had been more… No. Don't think like that._ "You ok now?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Really," Sam said defensively.

"Alright then." Dean stared at him for a while, and then said, "Let's go check in on her. But just _check in_. Let's keep her out of this as much as possible. Ok?"

"Dean, I'm not trying to get her into this!" Sam replied, annoyed. "I just want to make sure she's safe."

Dean nodded with approval. "Ok. Let's go."

20 minutes later, they were sitting in the midst of a forest-like park filled with trees. A circle of trees surrounded them and enclosed the space, forming a sort of hidden cave that provided excellent cover from nosy others.

"Hey guys, got your text," Arya said as she slid between a gap in the trees and sat down in their little hiding place. "Glad you found your way here."

"This is almost as great as the batcave!" Dean exclaimed, looking around. "Our HQ," he added when Arya raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, well, it's great because it's a secret local place to camp out and clear your head," Arya muttered offhandedly while checking around to make sure no kids were nearby. "So, what did you guys figure out?"

"Well, for starters, this is where you stop being interested," Sam stated seriously. "This isn't just a supernatural creature; it's an entity more powerful than God, and it's called Chaos, which kinda gives you an idea of how friendly it is."

Arya stared at them, unfazed. "Where the heck did you find that out?" she asked. "That's not in any book." Sam frowned. She almost sounded suspicious.

"Not a book. Just an angel," Dean explained.

"Cas?" Arya blurted, and then turned red as they stared at her in astonishment.

"How the heck do you know Cas?" Dean questioned.

Arya shifted her gaze from Dean to the ground and stammered, "Um… Like I said, lots of time on my hands. I… I researched a lot about angels, and… I heard a lot of hunters say his name in conversation whenever they came here," she said hurriedly.

Dean was not convinced. "And these hunters were randomly saying Cas' name because…"

"I don't know why hunters do what they do, ask them, not me," she snapped. Sam heard a slight quaver in her voice and glanced at Dean. Both knew she wasn't telling the truth, but they were not going to get anywhere if they tried to ask her more questions. "So anyway," Arya said, trying to change the subject. "Cas knew all this stuff?"

"Yeah," Sam mentioned, deciding to go with the conversation. "All things powerful are pretty much programmed into his head. He said this Chaos can… well, create chaos. Oh, and that black substance you found was his venom, which I'm really glad you didn't touch because it causes you to… go through pain."

Arya narrowed her eyes at Sam, making him feel like he was being x-rayed by this slightly intimidating teenager. He watched in amazement as he saw her brain working at rapid speed, until their eyes locked and she looked at him and conveyed so much understanding and comfort that it felt like he had been friends with her for a long time. Suddenly, Sam felt a lot better. Why had he been troubled by the effects of the venom the past day? Those were just some bad memories. There were plenty of other happy ones that came easily to him now.

"Anyway," Dean continued, oblivious to what had just happened. "This Chaos mofo is the worst we've come upon, and that's saying something. Look," Dean said, and he smiled at Arya while looking her straight in the eyes. "You're a good kid," he said sincerely. "Pretty darn impressive. You managed to get us here to this point and… you're better than any other teenager I've ever known. So thanks, Arya, for all your help, but now just go home and enjoy your happy, ordinary life. Ok?"

Arya stared back at him. "Riiight. And how are you two brilliant minds going to find Chaos?" she asked.

"We'll find a way," Sam reassured her.

"Well I already did," Arya told him happily, enjoying the look of surprise on his face. "While you two were honeymooning with your angel, I hacked into all the street cameras in town and saw a creepy dark thing moving through the videos. I tracked it down and found where it's camped out. I'm assuming it's Chaos. His wonderful features certainly fit the name."

"You… you were able to hack into all the street cameras?" Dean stammered.

"Yes…" She looked disappointed when she saw the puzzlement on the brothers' faces. "I can't tell if it's gender discrimination or age discrimination, but every time you guys act all surprised that I can actually do something, it pisses me off," she huffed, causing both Sam and Dean to chuckle.

"Sorry," Sam said, still smiling. "You're just… you remind us of someone."

"Who, Charlie?" she asked easily, causing both brothers to start and stare at her confusedly.

"So you know Charlie too?" Sam asked her.

"Of course," she replied smoothly. "First thing I did once I taught myself how to code and hack was to look up other hackers. You know, find a support group, that kind of thing. Charlie was the only person who was part of Roman's company – yes, I know he was a Leviathon – so I figured she knew about the supernatural stuff too. I got in touch with her. She's helped me learn a lot," Arya claimed happily.

"Oh." Dean said. "So is there anyone we know that you don't?"

"I wouldn't be able to tell you that, would I?" she replied mischievously. "Let's just say that I hear a lot of things. So… when do you guys wanna leave to find our little creeper?"

"Woah, woah, woah," Dean exclaimed. "'We' are not going anywhere. You're going home. You're gonna give us his location, forget all about this, and live a happy life. And do yourself a favor, just stop learning about this supernatural crap. Trust me," he told her, his eyes haunted, "you don't want in to this life."

"I trust you, Dean," she said softly, causing him to feel a little honored that this independent girl would keep her trust in him. "You're a good guy. So's Sam. But I'm already in. I wanna see this through. Chaos," – she pronounced the name bitterly – "killed two of my good friends in those car crashes." Sam and Dean looked up at her, stunned that she had known those two vics. "So I'm coming. And," she said louder, holding up her hand to stop the brothers from protesting, "I'm not giving you the location unless I come with you."

There was a very pregnant pause.

"Come on, Arya. You're smarter than this!" Dean exclaimed.

"No, apparently I'm not," Arya replied stubbornly.

"Arya…" Sam looked at her until she returned his gaze. "We just want to keep you safe. It's all great to research, but when it comes down to actual hunting… People die. We've seen it happen to people we've failed to protect." Sam's voice broke a little. "For your own sake, give us the address and stay home," he said gently.

Arya smiled the kindest smile Sam had ever seen and said softly, "I know you'll protect me. You're Sam Winchester. And I," she continued as she got up and headed towards the opening in the trees, "am a stubborn teenager who'll be waiting here at 10 tonight to go kill this thing with you guys." And with that, she whipped her hair around and disappeared.

Sam and Dean gave each other exasperated looks. "Why do we always end up with the stubborn ones?" Dean complained.

"The really smart, but really stubborn ones," Sam agreed.

**xxxxxx**

**So that's it for now! This is a rather short chapter without much action... but it'll pick up! I promise. :D  
>Til then, please review and tell me what you think!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Your reviews really make my day :)  
>Anyway, time to bring in more bad guys! Yay! <strong>

**xxxxxx**

_The sky is a cool black, and the only thing lighting my way is the silvery glow of the moon. The trees sway with the small breeze and I bristle with anticipation to be a part of something bigger._

_I have never snuck out from home before, but I could not help myself tonight. Every day I see people around me, I feel like I am different deep down, and every night when I look out my window and at the stars, I feel the calling. But tonight, I could not dismiss it. I must accept my other half now. There can be no more delay._

_Of course, I do not know what I feel this incredible longing for. I do not know what I am walking towards, or what this other part of me is. I just know that I need it, and I can do good by it. Tonight, I will be free._

xxxxxxx

"Thanks, Charlie. You're the bomb," Sam told the phone. "Uh… Maybe next month. No, we _love_ Moondor Fandom Day, but we're kinda busy… Yeah. See you soon." Sam shut the phone and pulled his laptop closer. "So, Charlie said she's sending us the footage she hacked. And Arya's right, apparently there's something that fuzzes out the camera…"

"Awesome. We owe her one," Dean said. _And now we can solve this without putting Arya in danger, _Dean thought. They had both agreed the moment the reached the car that they would find a way to figure out Chaos' location so that they wouldn't have to drag Arya into this. After all, the girl was only 15. She had the rest of her life to live out.

"Alright Chaos… show us your pretty face," Dean said, as he and Sam scanned the videos Charlie had sent them. One by one, in a linear pattern, a dark shadow passed through each camera, leading to a camera showing an abandoned old building.

It's always an abandoned old building.

"Gotcha," Sam exclaimed. He leaned back and looked at Dean. "So, what's the plan?" he asked his older brother.

"We get our guns, salt, iron, and whatever else we can think of," Dean replied seriously. "We go there, let ourselves in, and we fight."

Sam nodded. "Good enough for me."

xxxxxxx

Dean pulled up to the curb, and the brothers stepped out of the car while scanning the area. Sam looked at Dean and said, "Wow. Definition of creepy."

The building had boards covering the windows and paint peeling off the walls. It was dark and reeked of damp, and all the grass around it had turned a sickening pale yellow. It was on the outskirts of the town, but still looked very out of place in the pleasant suburb.

Dean hefted out an iron poker from the car and nodded at Sam. "Let's get this party started," he said grimly.

The brothers cautiously walked up to the broken wooden door. Sam peered inside, and quickly motioned for Dean to go, and both of them burst into the room. After scanning the building for a few moments, they carefully moved forward, keeping their eyes and ears alert. Suddenly, the door banged shut, so that the only rays of light came streaming in weakly from the broken windows.

"Hello, boys." drawled a familiar and unpleasant voice from behind them. Sam and Dean whirled around and pointed their guns and found themselves face-to-face with the king of hell.

"Crowley, you son of a bitch," Dean snarled, and he kept his hand holding his gun steady. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Crowley smirked and cocked his head. "I'm wounded," he said in a mocking tone. "Is this any way to greet an old friend?" he asked, gesturing at their drawn guns.

"You're no friend of ours," Sam spat. "Tell us what you're doing here!"

Crowley smiled. "Ah, moose. Always with the anger. Here. Let me help you blow off some steam." He gave a careless flick of his wrist, and both the brothers' guns flew to the ground and well out of their reach. Dean shifted uneasily, feeling vulnerable without his weapon. True, the guns and iron wouldn't have done much good, but he still felt better with one in his hand.

"There. Now that we've finished our lovely tea party greetings, why don't you two scamper off. And just because I'm such a _wonderful_ person, I'll pretend I never saw you here," Crowley told them.

"We're not going anywhere until you tell us what the hell is happening here," Sam said aggressively.

Crowley rolled his eyes. "A lot of fun little things are going on here, moose."

"Yeah, we can see that!" Dean retaliated. "Are you the asshole making things get wacko here?" _Maybe it's just Crowley_, Dean thought. _Maybe it isn't Chaos, and Cas was just mistaken. _Strangely, a part of him wished that to be the case, because atleast Crowley was a monster they knew. He was a downright asshole, but they understood his weaknesses. Chaos, on the other hand, was a completely unknown entity.

"Please," Crowley snorted, but a flicker of fear passed through his eyes. "I'm just here to make bets and watch. And I'd recommend that, unless you two want our finest suites downstairs, you leave. Run away as fast as your bulky little hunter legs can carry you." Sam and Dean exchanged a quick, confused glance. Why would Crowley be trying to help them?

"So you're here to see Chaos rise, then?" Sam asked, who had obviously connected the dots much faster than Dean.

Crowley gave a little start when he heard Chaos' name. He narrowed his eyes at the tall brother. "Well, I see you two have certainly done your research," he muttered darkly.

"And I'm assuming you're betting on the big bully in the playground," Dean said disgusted. "So who's the other horse?"

Crowley glanced at the two brothers for a few moments, and then pulled on his most infuriating smile. "I think I've had enough chit-chat. Lovely seeing you two, by the way," he added on. "We should do this more often. Next time, I'll bring the biscuits." He began to snap his fingers, but Sam's voice stopped him.

"What does Chaos have against Arya's town?" he interjected. Crowley stared at him, surprised.

"Ah… So you've met the girl."

"Yeah. So?" Dean asked, frowning.

"Nothing." Crowley smiled. "It just means that I'll go ahead and put you two on the fast reservation for the hell hotel, because that girl attracts death like an ill-tempered magnet." And with that, he was gone.

Sam and Dean blinked at each other. "What the hell?" Sam asked. Dean glanced around to make sure Crowley had really gone.

"Come on, Sammy. Let's get outa here."

xxxxxx

"So, Crowley is buddies with Chaos, and the two were chatting up in an abandoned building," Sam concluded while riding shotgun in the car. "That sounds... fancy."

"No, I don't think that's it," Dean said. "You saw the way he reacted to Chaos' name. The asshole is afraid of the bigger asshole."

"Maybe if we're lucky, he'll turn out to be like Abbadon, and the two will kill each other," Sam mused. "That would make our lives a lot easier."

"Yeah. But it doesn't look like Crowley's gonna try butting heads with him. Which worries me, because that means he really is as powerful as they say. The question is – what the heck are we gonna do now?"

Sam pondered the question and looked out the window. They had no way to kill Chaos, and they didn't even know where he was anymore. There was absolutely no pattern in what he did and the way he did it, other than the fact that animals grew rabid when he was nearby. They had no clue when he would strike again, or why he hadn't yet.

In other words, they were completely stuck.

"I guess we just wait for Cas to come up with something," Sam answered finally. "And til then, we stay on the look out for any crazy animal signs so that we can prevent Chaos from making his next kill."

Dean sighed resignedly. "I hate waiting," he said grumpily.

**xxxxxx**

**So... Crowley's playing the game too! What other mysteries shall we find in later chapters? :)  
>I literally had to restrain my hand to prevent myself from adding on "like men in tights" where Dean tells Sam the plan. Ahh, Supernatural bloopers. Reason #1 as to why I waste time.<br>Anyway, I'd love your reviews for this chapter! :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for all your support guys! Are you ready for the big reveal? (If you didn't guess it already :P)**

**xxxxxxx**

_I don't see it at first. I feel it. Slowly beginning to consume me in a warm blanket of knowledge and power. Then I see it. And I am forced to shield my eyes._

_It is beautiful._

_It shimmers a glowing, bright white, and I wonder how nobody else has noticed it yet. Then I remind myself that nobody else probably sees it._

_"You kept me waiting," it echoes into my head, not unkindly. _

_"I'm sorry," I say. "I was not ready."_

_"Do not be sorry," it says gently, yet powerfully. "You are not like the rest. You are wary of power. That is good. But it is time now. You are needed."_

_"What… what should I do?" I ask, slightly frightened._

_"Open your eyes. Open your mind and soul to me. And we shall become one."_

xxxxxxx

Sam rubbed his eyes tiredly. He glanced at the clock, which read 3:27 AM. The sound of Dean's snoring almost made him nod off right there. He forced himself to shut the laptop. He'd been monitoring it constantly because he didn't want to miss any signs. This case had become personal the moment he saw Jess die again because of Chaos' venom. He was not going to let anyone else relive their worst memories. But right now, he really needed to crash. He got up, trudged towards the bed, and fell face forward onto the comfortable mattress. Just a few hours rest…

Sam opened his eyes, but everything was still pitch black. He looked at himself, and he realized that he was invisible. _I'm dreaming, _Sam understood. He started to look around, but he was forced to cover his ears as a high-pitched sound gradually became louder and louder. It was similar to the sound of an angel's true form, but was a hundred times louder. Sam cried in agony and fell to his knees out of pain from the sheer sound.

"HELLO, SAM," said the sound, reverberating throughout the black space. "I'VE BEEN WAITING TO SEE YOU FOR A LONG, _LONG_ TIME. I MUST SAY, IT IS QUITE THE HONOR."

"Chaos," Sam managed to spit out, still clenching his eyes and covering his ears. "What do you want?"

"WHY, I JUST WANT TO TALK," he said in an eerie, jovial tone. "AFTER ALL, YOU AND I… WE ARE QUITE ALIKE."

"We are NOT alike at all!" Sam yelled back into the darkness.

"NO?" he asked amusedly. "ARE YOU NOT THE BOY KING? THE ONE WHO TRIUMPHED AGAINST ALL OTHER PSYCHIC CHILDREN? ARE YOU NOT SAM WINCHESTER, THE ONE WHO FREED LUCIFER AND WAS HIS CHOSEN VESSEL? YOU SEE, SAM. WE ARE BOTH VERY POWERFUL. AND BECAUSE OF THIS, THE WORLD MISTAKES US FOR EVIL."

"You _are_ evil!" Sam yelled, his mind reeling from all that Chaos told him about his past.

"IS FAILURE 'EVIL'? IS LOVE 'EVIL'? CHAOS IS NO DIFFERENT. IT IS A NECESSARY COMPONENT TO LIFE. IT IS NOT EVIL, SAM. YOU OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW. THERE WAS A TIME WHEN YOU YOURSELF WAS A KING OF CHAOS. SADLY, YOU THREW THAT AWAY WHEN YOU FELL INTO THE PIT, BUT THIS! THIS IS YOUR SECOND CHANCE. JOIN ME, AND YOU WILL NEVER BE MISUNDERSTOOD AGAIN." Chaos said sympathetically.

"I will _never_ join you. You understand me?" Sam said vehemently. Chaos let out a horrendous chuckle that shook the walls of Sam's dream.

"BUT YOU WILL, SAM. JUST LIKE YOU SAID YES TO LUCIFER, YOU SHALL SAY YES TO ME. YOU REMEMBER BEING DRUNK ON POWER. YOU CAN NEVER FORGET IT. YOU CAN NOT RESIST IT. THAT IS WHY YOU WILL LET MY NEXT VICTIMS DIE. DEEP DOWN, YOU KNOW WHAT I AM DOING IS RIGHT." The high-pitched sound grew louder, until Sam could not bear it. He was going to explode, his brain ached with pain, his body was screaming to die –

Sam sat up on his bed, panting heavily. He was back in the motel. The clock read 4:33 AM. Dean was still asleep.

Sam got out of bed and opened up his laptop. He would not sleep. He would find a sign, and he would prevent Chaos from striking again if it was the last thing he did.

xxxxxxx

"You had no right to do that," Arya said coldly, seemingly alone in the deserted park.

"Be glad I simply manipulated him and did not kill him," Chaos replied evenly, shimmering into view. "Or your mother, or your father." His human form was a strong, well-built man, with handsome features marred by a cruel sneer and dead, black eyes.

"You can not hurt them," Arya said icily. "They are under my protection. You had no right."

"You broke the terms. You showed them the warehouse."

"I did not. I simply mentioned I knew where you were. They found it on their own-"

"Do you take me as a lawyer?" he asked, his voice seemingly calm but brimming with deadly anger. "If I was at my full strength, you would not dare-"

"But you are not," she said simply.

"Yes… But neither are you." He grinned maliciously, which would have sent terrifying chills up any other person's spine, but didn't affect Arya's stiff posture. He turned to leave, but then stopped. "Try to expose me again, and I will break through your flimsy shields and I will kill them all."

"I'd love to see you try," she attempted to say boldly, but her emotion and worry leaked through in the shake in her voice.

"Wait another week, darling, and you won't be able to see. The entire world will be covered in chaos."

He disappeared, and Arya's entire composure deflated. She stood for a few moments, and her body began to tremble as the suppressed fear finally made its way out. After a minute, she finally crumpled down to the grass and put her head in her hands.

A tiny, carefree bird fluttered down near her and curiously pecked at her toes. Arya started in surprise, and the bird fluttered a few feet back. "Hello," she whispered, holding out her hand, bird seeds appearing in her hand. The bird took a few hops forward, then hesitated. "It's ok," she said, her voice breaking. The bird flew onto her hand and began pecking at the food. "Are you… no," she sighed. "If you… If you see Max, you tell him to find me, ok? Can you do that?" The bird tilted its head at her and chirped twice. She gave a watery smile. "I'll take that as a yes. But you could be lying," she said sadly as it flew away into the darkness. "Birds lie."

**xxxxxx**

**So... slight deviation from the Winchesters action filled life to reveal a little something :)  
>Don't worry, the bird thing will make sense in the next chapter or so :D<br>Please review! I'm a bit unsure about this because it's different from the past few chapters... Feel free to tell me what you think!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Once again, I have to say, your reviews warm my heart :)  
>And... what's this? A decent sized chapter? Yay!<br>Enjoy!**

**xxxxxx**

_I take a deep breath. Open my eyes, my mind, and my soul… Slowly, I force my eyes open and stare into the blinding light. I allow myself to relax, and cautiously take a step forward._

_The light grows brighter, and louder, and hotter, and it fills all of my senses until I forget who I am. All of its past lives flash before my eyes, all of the very life thrumming through the earth and all of its knowledge and calm descends onto me. At first, it is heavy to bear, but then it gets overwhelming, and I start to see other stories it contains. Countless deaths forced to let happen, children's sparks of joy fading away as their eyes grow dull, decisions and strategies that must be made that affect millions… This is all part of the same entity, but I can not take it. I involuntarily flinch away from this other part of what is now me, and the looming mass of power stops flowing and hovers around me, trapped. I can not possibly let it all in, but it will not leave me. I have finally found my other half, but it was too much to accept. I could open my eyes and my mind to its many wonders, but I could not open my soul to the deaths that would weigh on my conscience. This is too much power for one person to bear._

_I am not yet whole._

_And I never can be._

xxxxxx

Dean woke up groggily to see Sam hunched over his laptop, his eyes red. "Were you up all night?" he asked worriedly.

"No, I got some shut-eye," Sam said without looking away from his laptop.

"What… what the hell are you doing?" Dean asked sleepily as he got up and grabbed the coffee Sam had evidently bought earlier this morning.

"Looking for signs," Sam replied. "They have 24-hour reports on animal activity on this animal control website…" he trailed off, lost in the screen.

"So that's all you've been doing?" Dean asked incredulously. "How long have you been doing that?"

"Not long." Dean knew his brother well enough to know something was up, but he knew he couldn't ask. This was one of those things that Sam would eventually tell him. When, however, was a good question…

"So, I'm guessing nothing yet?" Dean asked.

"Yeah," Sam said as he took a sip of his coffee.

"Alright then. So how about we-"

_Knock knock knock._ Sam and Dean glanced at each other, and after a second of silent communication, both quietly picked up their guns. Dean cautiously went up to the door, while Sam sat tensely in his chair, his gun behind his back.

Who would be knocking at their hotel door on a Saturday morning?

Dean opened the door a crack, only to have it thrown open into his face, causing him to stumble backward.

"Arya- jeez-"

"You left without me, didn't you?" she asked angrily as she barged in. "You realize I was waiting there at _ten_ in the night, freezing my ass off-"

"We told you we didn't want to drag you into this, Arya," Sam said, smiling weakly as he put the safety lock back on his weapon.

"And you should be glad we didn't take you!" Dean told her as he recovered from his initial shock at being thrown around by a teenager. "The damn _king of hell_ was waiting for us over there!"

Arya seemed surprised by this, and she sat down on the chair next to Sam's thoughtfully. "The king of hell… Isn't that Crowley? The one with the British accent?"

"Yeah," Dean said, confused. "How… lemme guess. Overheard from hunters?" he asked, his voice tinted with a light trace of sarcasm.

"Yup," she replied sincerely. "Why the heck was he there? And why wasn't Chaos?"

"We think he's trying to get on good terms with Chaos before he rises. I've never seen Crowley this scared of someone else. As to why Chaos wasn't there… I have no idea," Sam said, and he went back to staring at his laptop.

"Anyway… I'm gonna go get us some grub." Dean looked at Arya. "Aren't you supposed to be at school?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's Saturday, Dean."

"Oh, right. What about the whole 'I have a reputation' thing? Won't your parents be wondering where you are? And – wait a sec, how the hell did you know where we are?"

"I traced your phones," Arya said nonchalantly. "And my parents are on a weekend vacation, won't be back til Tuesday. I'll have a breakfast burger," she said pleasantly, and she smiled at him sweetly.

Dean stared at her. "Ok." He slowly walked out, but then popped his head back in and said, "Did you just order me to get you food?"

"Pretty much," she replied happily.

"You know you can't do that. I'm a feared hunter," he told her boastfully.

"And I'm hungry."

Dean chuckled. "You're something else…" As he walked to the Impala, he thought to himself, _When did I start liking her so much?_

Back in the room, Sam found himself thinking the same thing. It wasn't everyday they found someone with enough cheek but enough kindness to become the Winchesters' friend. _Focus, _he reprimanded himself. He continued to monitor the computer and sip his coffee, until he felt Arya staring at him as if she was x-raying his soul.

"What?" he asked, slightly uncomfortable.

"How long have you been at that?" she asked curiously.

"Not long enough. There aren't any signs yet. I don't understand." Sam silently scolded himself. _Stop sounding like you're expecting him to strike now,_ he thought.

"Obviously there aren't any signs yet," she said calmly. "You're watching out for them, so you won't see them. It's Murphy's Law," she added, when she saw him raise his eyebrows. "You need to take a break. I know when someone's had only one hour of sleep."

He indulged her by looking away from the screen and at her. "How exactly do you know that?"

She smiled and said, "When my friends have an AP test, they all look the way you do," and she closed his laptop. Sam sighed, but he knew he wouldn't accomplish anything by reopening the computer. He leaned back and tried to forget the phrases that kept running through his head. _You remember being drunk on power… You will let my next victims die…_

"Does that happen a lot?" he asked loudly, trying to drown out the words echoing in his head.

She snorted. "Everyday." She looked at him intently. "Sam, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Another thing high school drama has taught me to recognize: crappy lies. Seriously, Sam."

"I'm fine, Arya… Just tired." He closed his eyes, but after a while he began to feel her x-raying his soul again, and finally said, "Can you not do… that?"

"I've heard a lot about you," she said abruptly.

"What do you mean?" he asked defensively, worried he knew where this was going. _If she's heard what I think she has heard, she'll never think of me the same, _Sam thought sadly.

"That you killed Lillith, the worst demon ever. And you banished Lucifer to the bottom of hell, and single-handedly stopped the apocalypse," she said in awe.

"What?" Sam asked, stunned. That was not what he was expecting.

"Did you really do all that? Is that why you're so tall? Because the really good guys always need to be larger than life?" she asked good-naturedly.

"No… that's not why I'm tall," Sam said amusedly, that one crack at humor lifting his spirits. "But it's… it sounds all great, but I did so much bad that you don't understand…"

"What, like starting the apocalypse in the first place? Getting possessed by a demon and killing some hunters?" She paused as he looked at her, astonished, and then she added tiredly, "We've already covered this, I hear a lot of things going around. The point is, I hope you're not beating yourself up over the few bad things you've done." Arya gazed at him with the same sincere and kind look she had given him that had made him feel better at the park. It certainly made him feel better now. "We're both…" she trailed off, as if she was wondering if she should finish her sentence. "We're both the kind of people who never fit in," she said softly, her eyes somewhere far away. "Something about us marks us as different." Suddenly, she seemed to snap out of her trance, and she continued in her usual perky tone, "But atleast I have my friends to keep me up. You just have Dean. And I'm sure you guys help each other out and all, but… I know how older brothers can get," she said with a smile.

"You have an older brother?" Sam asked surprised. He had assumed that Arya was an only child.

"Had," she murmured, her entire demeanor suddenly heavy with sorrow.

"Oh." Sam looked at her, shocked. "I'm sorry."

She nodded. Sam noticed she didn't reply with the conventional, 'It's ok'. "We were hiking at a national park a few years ago," she said. "There was a huge waterfall… I went too close to the edge… He pulled me back but he stumbled, and… Yeah."

Sam vaguely recalled that, when he had been searching for strange occurrences in Happtown earlier, he had come upon a small story dedicated to a sixteen year old boy who had fallen off a waterfall. Although there were several eye witnesses who saw him fall over, his nine year old sister included, police never found the body.

"I'm sorry," he said again, truly meaning it. Arya gave him a small smile, but her eyes were dark and sad, causing Sam to wonder who else she had lost already. _That girl attracts death like an ill-tempered magnet,_ Crowley's voice sang through his head. _Shut up,_ Sam told it.

The door burst open and Dean paraded into the somber room with a big smile, two bulging plastic bags, and a sombrero on his head. "Hola, amigos," he exclaimed dramatically. His smile fell as he took in the long faces. "What did I miss?"

"What's with the hat?" Arya asked cheekily, all traces of sorrow gone with the wind.

"Oh, that? I was their one-millionth customer. Cheapskates just gave me a hat. But that's ok," he said happily. "Cuz I feel lucky."

"Glad you do," Sam said, taking the cue from Arya and acting like they hadn't just had a heart-to-heart-motivational-and-sorrows-from-the-past conversation two minutes ago. "Maybe it'll help you improve your shot so that you actually hit the shifter next time," he joked.

"That was _one_ time," Dean whined as he plopped the bags on the table and began to dig into his eggs and bacon sandwich.

"I'm sensing that we've hit a nerve here," Arya said cheerfully. "I'd better leave before things get nasty." She rummaged through the bag until she found her breakfast burger.

"You're leaving?" Dean asked disappointedly.

"Yup." Arya gave an apologetic smile. "Things to do, places to go. Thanks for the burger. Call me when you find something," she said, addressing Sam.

"Sure thing, Arya," he said. "But you realize you're not coming with us?" Sam looked at her with his big eyes. Especially after what they'd just talked about, Sam knew she'd understand now that he couldn't put her in danger.

She gave a small sigh. "Yeah, I do. Good luck guys. Give Chaos hell from me." With that, she walked out the door.

Dean looked back at his brother, sizing up his condition. "You look better," he concluded.

"The sandwich," Sam lied. "So when shou- What the-"

For Cas had just appeared sitting on top of the table right where Sam's sandwich had been.

"Jesus, Cas!" Dean exclaimed, backing away from the table. "What have we said about giving us a little warning?"

"Oh. I'm sorry," Cas said gruffly. He got off of the table and stood up, only to see that the remnants of Sam's sandwich was splattered all over the rear area of his trench coat. "Oh," Cas said apologetically. "Sorry about that." Sam eyed his squashed meal, his appetite completely gone.

"Uh… that's fine," he said. Cas waved his hand, and the food disappeared.

"I come with grave news," he said seriously, getting straight to business.

"Which is?" Dean asked bracingly.

"I found Thoriel – one of the oldest and wisest angels I know – after a lot of searching. Trust me," Cas said, nodding convincingly. "It was a _lot_ of searching."

"Ok," Sam acknowledged. "And?"

"He told me everything he knew of Chaos, which was just one thing: Chaos can corrupt any child of God with celestial power that goes near him. I… I happen to be one of them."

"Wait," Dean interrupted as he processed this information. "You're saying that you go close enough to this mofo and you become a bad douche?"

"To sum it up, yes," Cas said gravely. "So, for obvious reason, I won't be able to help you two actually fight Chaos."

"Wait," Sam spoke. "What do you mean, _actually_ fight?"

"Well," Cas said, looking pleased with himself. "I did happen to find out certain wards against Chaos."

"Wards?" Dean asked skeptically.

"Yes. An object of complete and utter understanding can protect someone from Chaos' strike," Cas told them.

"Understanding? Not love?" Sam asked, genuinely confused. Dean gave him a scoffing look. "What? It's always 'an object of love' or something like that in the stories!" Sam claimed defensively. Dean just shook his head.

"Love can actually be considered part of Chaos' domain," Cas explained. "It can be quite chaotic at times." Dean smirked at this statement. "But with understanding," Cas continued, oblivious to Dean's expression, "there can be no misunderstanding, and therefore no chaos. An aura of true understanding emanating from the object can… well, I believe it can atleast shield you from a significant percentage of damage one of his attacks would cause."

"That sounds promising," Dean muttered. "So where the hell do we find this object?"

"You don't need to," Cas said happily, and he pulled out a simple necklace with a black thread and a gold pendant from his coat pocket. Sam and Dean stared at in shock.

"But I thought… I thought it was gone," Dean said quietly. He had always regretted the day he had thrown it away.

"I found it," Cas said objectively. "It did take a while to obtain it. But it will work. I duplicated it, so that you and Sam can each have one. Here," and he dug out another replica of the necklace from his coat and held out his hand.

Sam was the first to react. He gently took one from Cas, murmuring, "Thanks." He stared at it, and a small smile formed on his lips as he remembered the sweet childhood memory that accompanied this little object. He carefully placed it around his neck, sat down again by his computer, and then looked pointedly at Dean.

"Yeah, um," Dean had to clear his throat. "Thanks, Cas." He reached out, took the other, and wore it with the utmost care. "I won't lose this," he said a little louder than he need to, looking anywhere in the room but Sam.

Sam smiled. "I won't either. An- hey." He was staring at the computer screen. "Just in. Three dogs just went crazy, all from the same street. Control just picked them up," he read off the website. He glanced at Dean seriously. "Dean, I think that's us."

"I think so too," Dean replied, standing up and grabbing his jacket. He looked at the angel in the room. "Cas, I don't want you hovering around, alright? You're the only angel on our side, and there's no way we're losing you to some new creep on the block."

Cas reluctantly nodded, as Dean did have a point. "Fine," he muttered.

"Good," Dean said as he made his way to the door. "Let's go meet this son of a bitch."

**xxxxxxx**

**Oooh... getting to the action! I'm doing more with Arya this past chapters because I kinda want to develop her character more, as she is rather important later on :)  
>But Cas came back! *For a few minutes* But who cares, Cas is timeless :D<br>It may be a few days til I put up the next chapter, as school and other activities are catching up with me, but I'll try to get it in as soon as possible! Til then, I'd love your reviews!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello again! I just decided to stay up late and write the chapter so that I wouldn't keep you amazing people waiting :)  
>This was probably the hardest chapter to write. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to say this, but I'll say it anyway: Warnings for this chapter only - children deaths. I felt horrible writing it, but it needed to be done for the plot... The things I do for this story!<strong>

**xxxxxxx**

_"You don't understand!" I cry. I look back out in front of me, where emptiness resides. My feet scrape at the edge of the cliff, aching to step forward. The breeze floats lazily, rocking me back and forth and causing him to cry in despair._

_"Just come back, Arya. Please," he says. He holds out his inviting, warm hand, the one that has guided me throughout my life. I refuse it._

_"You don't understand," I repeat calmly. "I'm not going to fall. I'm going to fly. The birds told me so!"_

_"Arya, birds lie," Max says, his voice struggling to be even. "Just step back, towards me," he continues, and he steps forward very slowly._

_I look at him, sad that the one person who understood me all the time did not when I needed him to the most. I focus back in front of me, and look down at the tops of trees swaying beneath. _Come on_, the wind whispers. _We're waiting. Show us what you can do.

_I know I am different. I know I will not fall. I close my eyes and take an exhilarated breath, and bring my foot forward._

_"Arya, no!" Max yells, and he jumps forward while yanking me back. I open my eyes just in time to watch in horror as his momentum carries him on. As I fall back towards the shore, away from the edge, his eyes find mine as he, thankful I am safe and accepting his fate. _

_"NO!" I scream, because this is Max, and Max can not die, not like all the others, and I reach out to him, channeling my very being into keeping him safe, not letting him die, let him fly, not fall-_

_Max's eyes narrow in shock as his body shrinks, his skin becomes soft and feathery, and his nose grows longer. "What-" he manages to splutter before he is below my line of sight, and I scramble to the edge to catch him, my only brother, the one I love-_

_Hands grab me and hold me steady and I am forced to cry in anguish, but then something catches my eye. A tiny swallow soars out from the mist of the waterfall below, and I call it with my mind and voice, but it doesn't hear me. I watch in despair as it flies away, indifferent, and I do not pay attention to the voices, the screaming, the people jostling around me._

_Max… What have I done?_

xxxxxxx

"Just texted Arya. She said good luck," Sam told Dean.

"We'll need it," Dean said heavily as the Impala spluttered to a stop by the sidewalk. Sam and Dean got out nimbly, quickly scanning the environment. They noted that all of the houses' windows were shuttered off to ensure these suburbians had their privacy – this was good, it would prevent people from seeing what they were about to do. The houses ended and a forested region started at the end of the street, with a trail leading through it that was frequented by joggers every now and then. Everything seemed picture perfect, except that the air was too still, and everything was too quiet.

The Winchesters ran, guns in hand, towards the beginning of the trail, when suddenly, a woman's hysteric scream rang out through the air. The brothers sprinted as fast as they possibly could, deeper into the forested park and further down the trail, towards the sound. The sight that greeted them was horrendous.

A woman was standing, backed up against a tree, protectively standing in front of her two young children. The most twisted, evil looking man Dean had ever seen – Chaos – was laughing in a way that sent chills down Dean's back, and Chaos was holding a tiny, limp figure soaked in deep red stains.

No…

Dean processed all of this in less than a second, and immediately shot three bullets straight into Chaos' heart as he ran on to the scene, at the same time that Sam shot two straight through Chaos' brain. Swifter than they could have imagined, Chaos shot two intense crackling spheres of dark energy straight at the brothers' chests. Before either brother could blink, the spheres were upon them, but as the spheres came near, they slowed down as if traveling through some sort of invisible force. That only lasted a second, however, and they still hit their targets, and both brothers flew backwards a good ten feet. If it hadn't been for their wards, it probably would have been thirty and would have knocked them out. The woman screamed again, and the brothers could make out the name "Daniel" amidst her broken sobs. That must be the limp figure Chaos just shoved whole down his throat. Chaos gave a terrible swallow, and the fatal bullet wounds he had received healed up instantly.

"Run!" Sam shouted to the mother as he scrambled up and aimed to shoot Chaos again, but she stayed rooted to the spot in fear and agony from just watching one of her sons get eaten.

"Stay." The man said quietly. Immediately, Sam and Dean felt their spines stiffen and their feet turn to lead, and they could not move their limbs. Dean shifted his eyes and saw with horror the woman and her two remaining toddlers were affected similarly and were still in danger. The kids couldn't have been older than two and four. They both whimpered and were frozen with their hands clutching their mother's shirt.

"You're warded," Chaos noted as he examined the Winchesters. "How… naïve." With each step he took towards them, the air around them got colder and damper, and the necklaces got hotter until they seemed to burn at their skin. Chaos got agonizingly close to the brothers, and with a tiny jerk of his head, their only source of protection burned up right on their necks. The brothers muted their shudders of pain and glared as best as they could at Chaos, but he turned his attention back to the mother and children and began to slowly walk towards them.

"Please…" the mother whispered, and Dean admired her for her bravery to speak up. "P-p-please l-let my children g-go," she begged.

"Oh, I will let them go, believe me," Chaos said lazily.

"Let them go, Chaos!" Sam yelled angrily, still stuck.

"Or what?" he asked them amusedly. "My, my, you two certainly are… pesky. Irksome, one might say… like flies. I will swat you down, but sadly, I can't use you as leverage if you are dead… So you two are useful to me alive as of now. Those three, on the other hand," he said calmly, and he nodded towards the family. "Will be useful dead. No one can hear your screams," he added, disgustedly piercing the woman with his dead eyes. "No one can hear any of you right now."

"Do what you want with us now!" Dean yelled, trying to get Chaos to focus on him and buying time for the family so that he could think of a way to get them to safety. Next to him, Sam struggled violently to escape the invisible chains holding them down, but all he could manage was to break into a sweat tiring himself out.

Chaos paused and gave a mocking sneer. "Look at you two little insects," he said, each word of his causing the Winchesters' hair to stand on end. "Barging in here with half a hope and all these… little twigs," he mused as he gestured towards their many weapons which now hung uselessly from their belts. "Don't flatter yourselves into thinking that I am letting you go. I am making you watch," he said as he eyed Sam, his voice dangerously low. Sam's eyes darted everywhere, desperately looking for a way to get, not himself, but the family to safety. _No, no, no, _he thought in a frenzy. _No, no, no, no-_

Without any warning, Chaos flicked his finger carelessly, and the two children cried out as they flew up to his gnarled, pale hands. The mother screamed, Sam and Dean bellowed and struggled, but with a snap of his fingers, he killed the children. Sam and Dean struggled with renewed fervor, and the mother shrieked and sobbed hysterically, crying out the kids' names over and over. But nothing worked, and Chaos' power was far too strong to be overcome by two men. Chaos began to eat the children delicately and slowly, enjoying the despair emanating from the remaining three adults and feeding off of that as well. Each passing moment, his eyes grew blacker, and he grew stronger, and the wind began to bristle agitatedly around them.

_I didn't just watch this happen, _Sam thought wildly. _I didn't – those kids – I just – I can't –_

"NOOO!" Sam bellowed, and the sheer violence and agony heard in his yell caused Chaos to actually stop what he was doing. He sighed, and looked at Sam sympathetically.

"I told you," he said simply. "I told you what would happen, didn't I?" He cocked his head to the side with pity. Dean flashed a glance at Sam, but Sam was too busy reeling in horror and glaring at Chaos.

"I will kill you," Sam finally muttered quietly, in a tone so dark it chilled Dean almost as much as Chaos did.

"Nobody can kill me, Sam," Chaos said earnestly. "Not even the pathetic excuse of a Seeker," he added contemptuously.

"There is no Seeker," Dean spat, once again trying to keep Chaos engaged to atleast save the mother. He would have to think of something on his own now, though, because Sam was in some dark place of his own and wasn't thinking straight anymore.

Chaos looked genuinely surprised at Dean's statement. "You… you really don't know, do you?" he asked delightedly. Without waiting for a response, he continued, saying, "Of course there is. The moment I got enough strength back, the spirit chose someone. She didn't even accept it fully, so she doesn't have half the power the normal Seeker would have… Sad, really. I was looking forward to a good fight every now and then. It used to keep me entertained, I must admit."

"The Seeker is a she?" Dean asked, playing along with the conversation and realizing he had just regained control of his index finger of his right hand. He willed the mobility to spread to the rest of his hand so that he could reach the holy water in his back pocket. If that didn't have even the slightest affect on Chaos, he didn't know what would…

"Exactly. What was the spirit thinking?" Chaos said, more to himself than to anyone else. "If you ask me, its grown senile over the past few years and forgotten how to choose someone properly. How she qualifies as 'wisest and kindest' is beyond me… but enough of this. You're not distracting me at all, Dean. You'll never reach the holy water in your pocket."

Dean looked up sharply, horrified. "How did you-"

"You only regained some control over your body because I let you," Chaos said calmly. "Sam, on the other hand…" Chaos turned around to find Sam holding an angel blade to his throat.

"Move one millimeter, and I will stab you," Sam spat vehemently.

"What did I say, Sam?" Chaos asked easily. "You're powerful. Fighting fire with fire… All of that pent up anger and fury you have is chaotic power, and it lets you do things normal humans can not. Look at you! You managed to break away from my binding!" Chaos sounded pleased. Dean, still trapped, glanced up at Sam, perturbed.

Sam was breathing heavily, his usually kind and gentle demeanor replaced with controlled rage. Without another word, Sam brought the blade and slammed it deep into Chaos' chest. The force of his own blow made Sam stumble back, and he watched in horror as Chaos grinned eerily and the blade and wound disappeared after a few seconds. "Like I said," he repeated. "Nothing can kill me." He gave a sickeningly sympathetic smile to Sam, and said convincingly, "You'll come round." He then shifted his glance to Dean. "I'll see you sooner than you expect," he stated coolly. The air grew heavy and freezing and dark, and suddenly Chaos was gone. A puddle of venom appeared where he had been standing, and Dean finally felt the chains loosen and he tore free.

Dean worriedly looked at Sam, who was standing and breathing hard with his haunted eyes somewhere far away, but then Dean shifted his attention to the woman who had regained control of herself as well. She was slumped at the base of the tree, her eyes dead and void of emotion. Dean jogged over to her and knelt down, but she didn't budge. "Come on, lady. We need to get you to a hospital," Dean said gently. She just stared ahead. Dean closed his eyes and prayed – to whom, he didn't know – asking himself for just a little more strength. He wearily opened his eyes and began to carefully support the woman to stand up. She moved where he directed her like a rag doll, all will to live gone with her children. "Sam," Dean finally grunted. "A little help. _Sam_." Sam shook out of his trance and quietly walked over to help support the woman. They had only walked a few steps when she broke out of her trance as well and starting shrieking wildly, struggling against both the brothers' grip with a sudden strength. They tried to steady her, but she yanked herself away from them, the momentum causing her to trip and fall backwards right on top of Chaos' venom. Sam scrambled to catch her, but it was too late. The woman threw her hands out to stop her fall, all the while still yelling for her children, and her arms were drenched in the black venom. Her body seized up, her eyes rolled, and not more than a second later, she relaxed and lay limp on the ground.

Dean rushed forward, horrified, as Sam dragged her out rapidly, holding her by the shoulders so that he wouldn't touch the venom. Dean quickly called 911 while Sam checked her pulse. The operator picked up and said briskly, "911, what is your emergency?"

"I'd like to report a…" Dean trailed off as Sam's eyes found his.

"She's dead," he muttered quietly.

"Sir?" the woman asked on the line. Dean cursed inwardly. They had failed miserably. Everyone had died.

Dean shut the phone, and thought quickly. The authorities would be here soon.

"We… we gotta leave," Dean choked out. Sam just stared at him. Suddenly, he nodded, and he stood up abruptly. Dean walked towards the Impala, his mind racing. They had failed. The woman… her kids. Damnit, they were just toddlers…

Sam watched his brother walk away, and then glanced back at the woman, alone on the ground. His eyes were conflicted, and words could not describe how horrible he was feeling.

_I watched this happen,_ he thought. _I didn't save them._

He gritted his teeth and walked towards the Impala and Dean.

xxxxxx

Dean sighed as he slammed the car door shut with one hand, his other one holding on to a bag filled with junk and pie from the nearest convenience store. He and Sam had returned from their terrible encounter with Chaos yesterday and had moped around for a while in the hotel. Dean had expected Arya to show up or atleast call them to see how it their fight had gone, but surprisingly, she was nowhere to be seen or heard. They left it at that, thinking that perhaps she had finally decided to stay out of this business, and Dean had called Cas, who seemed surprised that their wards had barely helped them and then had burned up when Chaos came too near. "That means that he is regaining his strength faster than I had thought," Cas had said, troubled. He had left after promising he would search the ends of the earth to find something else to use against Chaos, but Dean had given up hope. After their encounter, he doubted anything they did would have any affect on the creep. Yes, Dean was expecting him to be strong, but Chaos emanated dark power. His defenses were impenetrable, he had absolutely no weaknesses that Dean knew of, and the only thing that seemed to have any sort of resistance to him was Sam. _Sam, _Dean thought worriedly. Ever since they had returned from the encounter, Sam had retreated into a little quiet shell of self-blame. The kid was always too hard on himself, but this time especially… He seemed to have taken it personally. _And that whole gig about Chaos having 'told' Sam what would happen, _Dean wondered. _Is that bastard messing with my brother when I'm not around? _he thought angrily, as he walked up to the hotel door in the dark night. The moon was not visible, the sky was pitch black, and it felt like all the stars had gone out. He unlocked it and trudged inside, where Sam was reclining on one of the chairs, and he tossed the bags of food onto the bed. "Any word from Cas?" he asked Sam.

"Huh?" Sam asked, seemingly coming out of a silent trance.

"I said, any word from Cas?" Dean repeated.

"Oh… no, he's… He's flying somewhere! Like a," Sam gave a little giggle, "like a little butterfly. But he's like, bigger."

Dean whirled his head and stared at Sam, who was smiling stupidly in his chair. "Are you drunk?" Dean asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Uh…" Sam gave a slight shrug. "Yeah… So?"

Dean sighed wearily, and he walked over to the bed, sat down, and started sorting through the purchased items. "Seriously, Sam," Dean replied tiredly. "Now?"

"Cas can't go near Chaos…" Sam said, somewhere along his own thought process. "But really… he shouldn't come near me." Sam gave Dean a convincing nod.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Dean asked.

"Everyone… _dies_ around me, Dean. And I didn't save those kids, I _let_ them die-"

"Woah, woah, woah," Dean interrupted. "You didn't _let_ anything happen, Sam. We both tried to save them. But you can't… you can't save everybody."

"I should have saved them. When I save people, I'm not evil. I'm going… I'm no better than Chaos…" Sam stammered.

"Alright, samsquatch. Let's get you to bed." He went over to Sam and helped him up. "Come on."

"No, no, no, no, Dean," Sam said as he struggled to stand. "I'm the only one who's always the… the bad guy," he said earnestly. "I'm the psychic, I'm the one hooked on demon blood, _I'm_ the devil's vessel. I don't want to be the bad… evil guy, Dean." Sam's eyes found Dean's and he held his brother's shoulders. "You gotta promise me that you don't… let me join Chaos," he spoke drunkenly, his eyes wide and looking for reassurance.

"You're not joining Chaos, Sammy," Dean said skeptically.

"No no no nono," Sam slurred. "You gotta promise me. I… I'd die before I join him. I don't wanna be evil, Dean."

"Good. You're not going to. Now lie down," Dean said patiently as he gently pushed Sam away and onto the bed. Sam struggled a while to get up and make Dean promise, but eventually gave up because it was too hard to raise his head. He moaned and turned over, sinking his face into the pillow.

Dean sat down, rubbed his forehead, and let out a deep breath.

They were in over their heads.

**xxxxxx**

**I must admit, I've been looking forward to Sam being drunk for a while. He's so lovable when he is! (Also when he isn't of course) :)  
>So, no Arya in this chapter! What's happened to her? Has she really decided to stay out of the business or is it something else? Something... dangerous? xD We shall see...<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**Your reviews are the best! :) Thanks so much for all of your support! *Sorry for errors in the last chapter... Proof that I did wrote it at 12:00 am :P  
>Are you ready for more reveal?<br>Enjoy!**

**xxxxxxx**

Dean walked into the room with two coffees in his hands, only to hear loud groans coming from the bathroom.

"Betchya wish you hadn't drunk so much now, huh Sammy?" Dean asked as he sat comfortably in the chair.

"Uhhh," was Sam's reply.

Dean chuckled, but his smile didn't reach his eyes. "You're so hammered, you probably don't remember anything from last night, do you?" he asked.

"No," Sam admitted, and Dean sighed with relief. "Did an elephant sit on my head? Because it sure feels like one did," Sam moaned.

Dean smiled at his light joke, and this smile was genuine. "Well, I know the best hangover remedy," he said happily.

"If you're going to say a greasy sandwich in an ash tray…"

"Alright, alright. You deal with it in your own time," Dean smirked. He turned around to grab his coffee, only to find himself face-to-face with Castiel. Dean jumped back.

"Cas!" he yelped indignantly. "Personal space, man."

"Oh… right," Cas mumbled. "I just wanted to let you know, I… couldn't find anything," he said dejectedly.

Dean let out a deep breath and sighed. "Thanks for looking, Cas," he said kindly. "I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting there to be anything."

"So… what are you planning to do now?" Cas asked, looking up at Dean.

"Don't know…" Dean admitted as Sam finally came out of the bathroom, his hair sticking up all over the place. "You look great," Dean remarked with a small smile.

"Thanks," Sam said sarcastically as he took his coffee from the table and rubbed the back of his head. "Hey, Cas."

"Hello, Sam," he said, staring intently at Sam. "You are… in pain."

Sam snorted. "Yeah, tell me about it."

"Here," Cas spoke, and without further warning, he placed his finger on Sam's forehead. Immediately, Sam's hangover vanished, and he felt better than he had been in the past few days.

Sam stopped rubbing his head. "Thanks," he smiled at Cas. Dean gave a disappointed sigh.

"Damnit, I was looking forward to giving you the greasy sandwich," he whined. Sam rolled his eyes, and Dean inwardly relaxed. _Sam's finally out of his dark shell, _he thought with relief. _I should get him drunk whenever he's pissed, _he mused.

"So, nothing?" Sam was asking Cas.

Cas shook his head. "However, perhaps there is something Chaos let slip when he spoke to you," the angel thought out loud. "Evil villains generally tend to reveal too much when they make their arrogant monologues," Cas said earnestly, causing both the Winchesters to smile.

"Well… there was one thing I'm still genuinely confused about," Dean began. "Why didn't he kill us?" He quickly scolded himself for bringing it up. _He didn't kill us because he wanted Sammy alive, _Dean realized. _Why did I ask…_

Sam shifted uncomfortably, but then his expression grew thoughtful. "He said something about using us as leverage." Sam glanced at Cas, perplexed. "Who would he be blackmailing with us?"

"That is a valid question," Cas acknowledged, as he tried to search for an answer.

"Oh, and another thing, Cas," Dean added. "Apparently there _is_ a Seeker. He let that slip, and I don't see why he'd lie and tell us about someone who could possibly help us."

Cas looked at Dean sharply. "That can not be," he stated. "I would have known the moment the Seeker accepted the spirit's full power."

"But that's the thing," Sam interjected. "Chaos said that she didn't accept it fully."

Cas gave Sam a confused look. "She? But the Seeker is supposed to be the wisest and kindest. It's always an old man," Cas protested.

"Well, an old woman could be the wisest and kindest as well," Sam debated.

"It's not that that confuses me," Cas clarified. "The Seeker has immense power. They can not have any emotional ties that restrict their judgment for that reason, and women – not all, but most – tend to be more emotional than men, because of certain hormones in-"

"Alright, skip the anatomy lesson," Dean interrupted. "So… We've actually got an MIA female Seeker who's supposed to be emotionless, but we're not sure if she is, or where she is, although we do know that, for whatever reason, she's not as strong as she should be because she hasn't accepted her power completely, while Chaos is getting stronger and developing a bigger ego." He paused and looked at the other two. "Did I sum it all up?"

"Well, you missed the fact that we still have no way to kill him," Cas said seriously.

"Yeah… Great." Sam sighed, and he placed his empty coffee cup on the table.

Cas, however, looked at them with determination. "I can try to look for the Seeker," he decided. "It'll be much harder, because she doesn't have as much power to trace, but if I find her, I'll bring her here."

Dean nodded. "But make sure you steer clear of Chaos," he reiterated concernedly. "And Cas, we have no clue how this Seeker is gonna be. I mean, you said the last one went crazy with power, right? Who's to say this one isn't already as mental?"

"It's very likely that she will have… issues," Cas agreed. "Don't worry, I'll be careful," he promised, glancing at Sam and Dean, and then, with a gust of wind, he disappeared.

"Well that's something, atleast," Dean said with a shrug. He looked at Sam, who was now scrolling through his phone, his eyebrows furrowed. "What?" Dean asked worriedly, noting the concern on Sam's face.

"It's… Arya," Sam told him, and he looked up from his phone. "She hasn't contacted us, and her calls go straight to voicemail." Sam tilted his head. "It's just… that's not very… 'Arya' like, is it?"

Dean contemplated, and then said, "You're right. It's not like her. You think…" He glanced tensely at Sam. "You think she's in trouble?"

"It's worth a check," Sam decided, getting up. An unspoken thought formed in both the brother's minds. _If she's in trouble…_

xxxxxxx

"I must say, you really are quite the devil yourself," Chaos remarked snidely. "Having to hide who you really are… Atleast _I_ make people _accept_ me for who I am," he nodded mockingly.

"What. The. _Hell_. Are you playing at?" Arya spat through gritted teeth. Her face was gaunt, and her hair was tangled. A huge gash dripped scarlet blood from her shoulder, and her entire body emanated weakness. She had sunk into the grass on her knees many hours ago, all of her energy draining into two black bracelet cuffs on her wrists which were bruised blue. But she would not lose her will. She would never lose her will.

"Please. You had to have realized it was a trap," Chaos said boredly. "Although, I suppose I can't expect _you_ to notice. You are an emotional wreck, after all. I knew you'd blindly follow your beloved Winchesters when they found me yesterday, and so I prepared…" He jerked his head towards the chains that bound her to an unknown and unvisited cove of trees in part of the forested park.

"Of course I knew," she muttered defensively. _But you're not supposed to be able to trap me like this,_ she thought despairingly.

"I know I'm not," Chaos grinned, and Arya cursed herself inwardly for not putting up her mental walls before she thought. It was so tiring having to remember to do that all the time. "But you, having not opened yourself up completely to my old spirit friend, are _pathetically_ weak and vulnerable," he spat. "Now, I'll tell you the same thing I told you yesterday. Give in to the Seeker completely, and become a worthy opponent for me. You're no fun when you're like this."

Anyone else would have complied with his every order, but Arya just stared up at him defiantly. Her bold disrespect miffed Chaos. Everyone should treat him like a powerful god. Even the old Seekers knew enough to show him some grudging respect in the past. This one was too rebellious. He needed to break her before she drove him crazy…

"No," she said simply, her will incredibly stubborn and strong despite the fact that she was barely conscious.

Chaos gave her an eerie grin. "You think you will be susceptible to greed for power if you give in," he told her, his tone sickeningly sympathetic. "If you give in, what if it… _Changes_ you?" he asked mockingly. "I do hope you realize that you are incredibly more vulnerable right… now." He gestured to her chains. "This ends when you give in to your power. Or," – he gave a malicious, dark sneer – "when you give your power to me."

"Or when I kick your ass," she said in a brave attempt to sound strong and not sound like a teenager tied up in a forest without any energy. "And when you piss off."

Chaos gave a strained smirk. Suddenly, without warning, he shot a massive sphere of dark, clammy energy straight at her. There was a blinding explosion as the cold energy temporarily fought against a flimsy, golden aura around her, but the battle was over quickly. The sphere collided onto Arya at full power, and she struggled to contain her scream, but she couldn't help letting out a choked yell in pain. She slumped over, her eyes closed, the dark power conflicting with her very essence and eating away at her will. _Don't lose your will, idiot, _she scolded herself, hanging on to consciousness dearly._ Can't… lose… will…_

"You have 24 hours," Chaos uttered coldly, deciding to play his trump card. "You will tell me your decision within 24 hours, or your precious little Winchester friends will learn who you are. And it will be the last thing they do." He let the threat hang in the air, and he disappeared into a gust of freezing wind.

Arya let out a deep breath. _So… _she thought to herself. _Let's… let's look at the bright side. Atleast hiding my parents on vacation worked. He didn't mention them in his threat, so that means they're shielded from him… What else is on the bright side? _

Nothing else was on the bright side.

_You could always take in all the spirit's power, _a voice inside of her reasoned. Arya pushed that thought away. No. She had no clue what saying yes completely would do to her personality, and she was not going to risk getting turned into something power hungry. _What, you really have such little trust in the goodness of your heart keeping you steady? _the voice asked irritatingly.

Arya told the voice to shut up.

She peeked open one of her eyes and made sure Chaos really was gone. Then she straightened up, alert, and felt deep inside her, forcing whatever power and energy she had left to surface now. Rest could come later. The boys would find her soon, she knew. They couldn't find her like this. If they got to know… Arya shuddered at the thought. They would instantly become targets for every evil supernatural creature in the planet wanting information about the Seeker. Not to mention they would probably be repulsed with her and she would lose the most understanding and noble friends she had. The last Seeker – self-absorbed idiot he was – didn't really do much to help her reputation. _Focus, _she reprimanded herself. She had some escaping to do.

**xxxxxx**

**Yay for Arya getting herself into trouble! :) And, if you guessed who she was, good job! If you didn't - good job! Now we know who the Seeker actually is... When will the Winchesters figure out?  
>I'd love your reviews! :D<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello, my favorite readers! Sorry it's been a while - I was at Anaheim for a school field trip competition! And guess what... I qualified for internationals! Yayyy :D  
>Anyway, just got back today and kinda just put this together as fast as I could because I didn't want to keep you guys waiting more, so it's rather short... But still, hope you enjoy!<strong>

**xxxxxx**

"Arya!" Dean called out, alone in the forested park. He was worried – they hadn't found anyone in her house, and the home phone had been beeping crazily with messages from worried friends who were wondering where she was as well.

"Arya!" he heard Sam yell from a couple hundred feet away. They had checked her little batcave in the other park, and she hadn't been there either. Sam could feel his insides getting cold with worry. _Not saving those kids was bad enough, _he thought. _But Arya…_

Sam checked behind another alcove of trees. This region was full of potential hiding places. _It could be any supernatural creature that could have gotten to her, _he thought worriedly. _Or… it could even be Chaos…_ He pushed that thought out of his head. _We'll find her… We have to_, he thought as he squeezed into another alcove of trees and bushes. The grass was especially soft here, and he trod forward, his eyes straining in the distance to see anything, a flash of black hair or a t-shirt, when he suddenly stepped on something very squishy.

"Ow!" came an indignant yelp from under his foot, and Sam jumped back and stared at the soft green grass as it started to move, and he realized that it wasn't grass at all, but a green patterned blanket. The blanket was thrown off, revealing a pillow and a very angry girl under it.

"A… Arya?" Sam asked incredulously. "What the… what the hell are you doing?" he asked furiously, inwardly relieved that he had found her and she was safe.

"I... I _was_ sleeping," she muttered sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

Sam stared at her.

"What?" she asked defensively, leaning back on her pillow. "I was alone in the house, and it's nice out here. This isn't the first time I've slept outside. Plus, it's supposed to be good for your brain."

Sam continued to stare at her. "We… we have been worried _sick_ about you!" he managed to splutter out. "Your friends too, you haven't been picking up any calls, and you're… you're _sleeping_?"

Arya looked at him confusedly, and then pulled out her phone. "Oh…" she said softly. "It was on silent… Sorry." She looked at him with a sheepish smile. "Where's Dean?" she asked.

Sam stared at her again, and then whipped out his phone. He dialed Dean's number, and said, "Dean. I found her." Sam gave Dean directions to their area, and then he leaned back tiredly and shook his head as Dean walked in, saw Arya with her blanket, and exploded. _This girl is just…strange, _Sam concluded wearily, as Dean ranted about being in touch and hunter safety.

Arya seemed to be enjoying their reactions now. At first, she was genuinely sorry she'd worried them, but after five minutes of listening to Dean, she was smiling coyly. "Look at you two," she said while Dean was taking a breather before continuing lecturing. "You're like the overprotective gay couple lecturing the kid to come home before curfew," she mused, her eyes twinkling.

This comment earned her another ten minutes of yelling from Dean.

xxxxxxx

"Yeah, the phone was just on silent," Arya was talking into her phone in the back seat of the Impala. "Dude, I'm sorry I missed it. No, I slept in… I know, I know. Can you go ahead and tell them? They all think I've gone MIA… Yeah – Wait, what? Are you serious? How the heck did I _not_ know we have Monday off? Oh… That sounds great, but I have to do… homework. Yeah, maybe next Monday. K. See ya," she said, and she snapped the phone shut. "Well, that was awkward," she told the brothers in the front seat. "But hey, you know what this means? I have all of today, and tomorrow now, to help you guys out!"

Dean huffed, still miffed about her absence stunt she'd pulled til ten minutes ago. Sam rolled his eyes, turned around to look at her, and said, "Yeah, that sounds great." Arya beamed, but Sam's forehead constricted for a millisecond. Despite the fact that she was acting like her usual outgoing self, Arya still looked tired and seemed rather gaunt. Sam took this all in with a quick glance, and turned back to face the road, looking troubled. Dean saw his expression and jerked his eyes over at Arya questioningly. They both knew something was up, but she was trying to cover over it for whatever reason. Dean flashed Sam a look that clearly read "High school drama?" and shrugged. He had a feeling in his gut, the hunter sensation that something big was about to go down really soon. Dean could only hope they would be ready when it came.

**xxxxxxx**

**Building up the suspense! And also I'm really tired and it's short, blehh  
>On a side note, anybody seen The Purge? This is not ok! Sam and Dean need to stop fighting and just hug really cheesily and be loving brothers again argghhh<br>Anyway, I'd love your reviews! (Not that there's much to review, sorry :P)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello my favorite people! Sorry it's been a while... The past week has been hectic for me! Nevertheless, here is the next chapter! And, as reward for your wait, extra extra long chapter! It sure took a lot of grueling my mind to write... I had a bit of writer's block. Anyway, hope you enjoy! :)**

**xxxxxxx**

Sam walked into the room and quickly glanced at both Arya and Dean to make sure they were safe and sound like they had been when he had left to get some water from the vending machine five minutes ago. It was a hunter habit to constantly check like that – very necessary in his line of work, of course – and when he was satisfied, he tossed a bottle to each of them. Arya opened hers as she leaned back in the chair and put her feet up on the table, and Dean sighed and propped himself up on the bed. "Thanks," Arya said, at the same time Dean said, "So… anyone come up with anything?"

Sam snorted. "I was out of ideas three hours ago, Dean." Sam glanced questioningly at Arya, who shrugged.

"Same here. Come on, guys, you're the ones supposed to be smart hunters. All I've figured out so far is that there's a dead mouse in the cabinet there," she said boredly, pointing up at the cabinets above the television.

Dean looked where she was pointing, shuddered, then leaned back again. "All I can think about is that if we had the Seeker, and we could talk to her and get her to… to suck up her all her mojo or whatever, we would actually stand a chance," he said wistfully.

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "But since when do the odds ever fall in our favor?" he asked with a slight smile.

"Maybe…" Arya started saying, then stopped.

"Maybe what?" Sam asked curiously. Even though she was still as energetic as the average kid, compared to her regular self, she had been oddly subdued since they'd found her in the park.

"I was just thinking… You guys told me how the last Seeker went abusive with his power, right?" Arya said slowly. "Maybe… I mean, it's possible that this one didn't take on the full power because maybe she didn't want to… I don't know, go evil?" She looked up at the brothers' faces thoughtfully.

"Could be," Dean mentioned after a few moments of thinking on what she had said. "But… I don't know, it seems kinda far-fetched. I mean, who wouldn't accept – what is it, 'more power than God and the angels combined'? And immortality?" Dean shook his head decisively. "Nah, nobody's meant to have that kind of power. I don't think it matters what she does, she'll go bad just like the other one."

Sam didn't miss the way Arya seemed to cringe slightly at Dean's words. "As you get older, you'll start to realize that not everyone can be good people, Arya," Sam said kindly, admiring how she was empathetic for anyone. "But you could be right. Maybe she's actually trying to stay sane and reasonable," Sam thought out loud.

Dean snorted. "If she is, kudos to her. I just hope Cas can find her, and then we can do some talking. She can't just sit this out and let everyone die, not when she can fix things," he spoke passionately. There was a loud pop behind them, and Dean turned around, saying, "And speak of the devil. Cas-"

Dean grunted as the wind was knocked out of him, and he and Sam went flying to the other side of the room.

"I am not Castiel," muttered the well-dressed blonde man who had just appeared, with a voice that wasn't as deep or as kind as Castiel's voice. "I am Ereziel." He glanced coldly at Arya, who had frozen in her chair but somehow had not flown to the wall. Her eyes were calculating, but Dean also noticed fear in her eyes for the first time. Ereziel flicked his hand again, curiously watching her, but then nodded, satisfied when she flew over to where Sam and Dean were stuck on the wall.

"Nice of you to join us," Dean murmured to her as she winced in pain. Next to him, Sam stared up defiantly at Ereziel, who was slowly walking over to them. Dean quickly glanced at Arya again, and muttered, "Stay quiet. Don't draw attention to yourself. I don't want you getting hurt." Arya surprised him by nodding silently.

"You're an angel," Sam concluded loudly, staring down the man. "What the hell do you want?" Sam sneaked a glance at Dean worriedly, and they both thought the same thing. _How the heck did he find us with our Enochian symbols warding us from their sight?_

Ereziel glared at him. "It's more of a question of what I _don't _want." He had now neared them so that his gray eyes were a foot away from theirs. "You two _apes_ messing around with things too big for you." He focused his gaze on Dean. "Which is exactly what you are already doing," he spat.

"We're just trying to save the planet," Dean replied angrily. "Given that you and all your other angelic friends are too busy with crap of your own, we tend to be the guys who have to fix everything. So I'm sorry-" Dean said with a mocking expression, "-that we're actually doing our job, but why don't you just leave us to our own business?"

Ereziel flicked his hand again, and Dean winced as an invisible hand punched him in the gut. "You Winchesters are known for talking about things you can't even begin to understand," he said quietly, each word enunciated and filled with dislike. "But it's _really _quite annoying to hear you do it in person." He flicked his hand again and nodded with satisfaction when he heard Dean grunt. "As you should know by now, given that the traitor Castiel is informing you, no angels can go near Chaos. We are doing everything we can to stop him from rising." He turned his head slightly, as if studying the Winchesters' brain capacity, and said, "You must realize that if he rises, it will be far worse than the apocalypse. He is far more powerful and evil than our fallen brother Lucifer, and he will turn your planet into a wasteland." Sam opened his mouth to make a retort, but his voice was silenced by a swipe of the angel's hand. Ereziel glared at him. "I do not take kindly to those who interrupt," he spoke vehemently. He paused, then he continued talking. "That is why I – along with all my other brothers who are searching for a way to stop him – are confused as to why you apes are making this situation much worse by poking your little heads in. We are, for once in a change, seemingly on the same side for now."

"Well," Dean spluttered, managing to regain his ability to speak, "Let's just say we aren't really fans of how you douches "fix" things. Like, uh, killing half the population to satisfy a crappy prophecy, for example. So yeah, we're poking our heads in, but we're gonna save every single person we can," he stated boldly.

"You do not understand," Ereziel replied angrily. "You two are angering Chaos and inflaming the problem. Chaos needs to be dealt with respect and caution. The more you taunt and challenge him, the worse off your human population will be. We _will _fix this in our own time and using the best method to preserve as many angel lives as we can. Yes, there will be casualties, but as you have so proved over the centuries, humans can repopulate fast enough," he uttered disgustedly.

"That's where we see things differently," Dean replied. "You guys always try to save your feathery asses by killing all of us down here. We won't let you do that."

Ereziel breathed heavily, and the invisible chains tightened around the brothers' limbs. Sam cried out in pain, but suddenly the chains loosened and he could breathe. He looked quickly at Dean and the angel, but his brother was still being constricted, though not as badly, and Ereziel was still furious, his hand was still clenched and pointing at them both. _How the hell… _Sam wondered. He glanced to his side and saw Arya's frightened, wide eyes searching him to see if he was ok. He nodded reassuringly, still wondering why he could breathe, then looked up sharply as the angel began to speak.

"I am done here. I have done as my orders told me to do. We have warned you. If you continue to meddle, you will be obliterated. We are not as powerless on earth as you might believe," he muttered ominously.

"Yeah, come near us and risk getting turned evil if we're near Chaos? I don't think so," Sam pointed out. Ereziel gave Sam the darkest look an angel could ever have, and with a gust of wind, he disappeared. Immediately, Sam, Dean, and Arya fell to the ground as their chains were released. Sam looked at Dean worriedly, and after a second of unspoken understanding, they both briskly walked over to their bags, took out spray cans, and started painting warding symbols on the windows. Arya shakily climbed onto the chair.

"First of all: what the hell?" Dean asked after tossing the now empty can into the bag.

"I know," Sam agreed as he continued to spray another Enochian symbol on the wall. "How the heck did he find us?"

"You… you still have your Enochian symbol on you, right?" Dean asked, as he checked to feel if his was still there.

"Yeah, of course. Do they just… stop working after some time? Or…"

"No man, they've been working for this whole time, so I don't see why they'd stop now…" He trailed off as he saw Arya quietly sitting in the chair. "Arya? You ok?" he asked concernedly.

"Uh…" she stuttered, then she shook her head and got out of her trance. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm… I'm fine. I just… Wow. That was…" She couldn't find the words to finish.

"Yeah, I know. You get used to crashing into walls after a while," Sam said kindly. A thought occurred to him, and he looked at Dean curiously. "You don't think they found Chaos and then just saw us around him and traced us back here?" he asked him.

Dean shrugged. "Yeah, that could be it." He glanced at Arya again, and then said, "Seriously, do you want some coffee or something? You look like you almost died."

Arya glared at him. "Dean. I almost did."

Sam chuckled. "No, angels only kill those who they think are too powerful or who get in their way. Unfortunately, we seem to get in their way –"

"We have a kinda bad habit of doing that," Dean interjected lightly, and Arya smiled.

"And you're neither of those," Sam continued, "so you're fine."

Arya snorted at that. "Yeah, you're right. I feel _so _safe right now." The brothers chuckled at that statement. "So," she said seriously. "All those threats he said… You guys are gonna stay out of their way now, right?"

Sam spat out the water he was drinking, and Dean had to hit him heavily on the back amidst his own laughter. "Arya," Dean chortled as Sam recovered. "Rule number one: We never _listen _to anyone. Not angels, not other hunters… Hell, most of the time we don't even listen to each other," Dean admitted, nodding to Sam. "Given our experience and what Ereziel just said, if we had let those dicks fix things when the world went wrong, there would be no more humans. They don't give a damn about us, so we gotta fix things and make sure that people don't get hurt."

"Saving people and hunting things," Sam said. "The family business. The only problem, though," he continued saying, "is that we don't know how to hunt this Chaos."

Dean let out a big breath. "I could call Cas. I should do that anyway, he's been gone long enough."

"Uh…" Arya started to point out. "Am I the only one noticing that you guys just painted angel warding symbols all over the room?" she asked.

Dean blinked. "Oh, right. I'll go outside, then."

Sam smirked. "Yeah, Dean. Go take it outside."

Dean glared at him, but then turned to look at Arya as she mentioned, "I'm gonna leave now."

"Why?" Sam asked curiously. "You were all into it a few hours ago."

Arya rolled her eyes. "Exactly. Hours ago. Anyway, I've had enough of angels for a lifetime," she said lightly, but her eyes betrayed her concern.

"Arya, Cas is a good guy. He's been helping us out for years now," Dean told her.

"I'm sure, I'm sure," she replied hurriedly. "I'm still done with angels. See you guys," she said with a smile, and she walked out the door.

Dean turned to look at Sam. "She seem on edge to you?" he asked Sam.

Sam nodded. "Yeah. I was thinking that since we found her at the park."

"Seriously, though, which teen sleeps in a park? Is that even legal?"

Sam scoffed. "Don't think so. She's definitely hiding something. Probably family issues," he reasoned.

Dean sighed. "Yeah... Come on, Sammy, let's call Cas."

The brothers stepped outside, and Sam sat on the bench by their hotel door as Dean closed his eyes. "Cas?" Dean said quietly. "Please get your feathery behind over here and tell us what you've got…"

No sooner did he say the last word did Cas appear right in front of his eyes, his trench coat fluttering slightly in the wind.

"Dean," Cas acknowledged. "Sam," he said as he turned his head to the younger brother.

"Hey," Sam replied. "So, we were just wondering… Uh, Cas?" he asked. For Cas had ignored him and walked up to the door, tilting his head.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Dean told him apologetically, seeing Cas' gaze go over the symbols on the window.

"It isn't that," Cas said gravely before Dean could explain their encounter with Ereziel. "It's just that…" He held his hand in the air, as if feeling something invisible in the air. "There is a… residual aura lingering in your hotel room. I felt it when I came earlier to give you the necklace wards," he explained. "An aura like this lasts for a while after someone very, very powerful comes near. At first, I just thought my perception was off, because I was dealing with some powerful Paghan gods before I saw you, but it's here again." He looked at Dean questioningly.

"Well," Dean started with a slight shrug. "That's probably our new friend Ereziel! Charming guy, you should meet him."

Sam snorted. "Really powerful angel just dropped by to tell us to mind our own business," he informed Cas.

"Did he also talk to you before I gave you the wards?" Cas asked deeply.

"I wouldn't call it 'talk', and no," Dean admitted. "But… hang on. Does that mean that son of a bitch was spying on us since back then? And that's why this - aura thing - was hanging around back then too?" he asked angrily.

Sam ran his hand through his hair worriedly. "He could've been. I mean, if they knew our location now, they could have known it back then too. And," he said, addressing Cas, "Ereziel certainly seemed strong enough to leave an aura."

"Yes, that's probably it…" Cas nodded, but he did not seem convinced, and his forehead was still constricted in deep thought.

Sam glanced at Dean, gave Cas a minute, and then cleared his throat loudly. "So… anything on the Seeker?" he asked.

Cas continued staring at the ground for a few moments and then pulled his head up. "No," he admitted. "Because she hasn't accepted the full power, her trace blends in with the rest of the angels and gods. But it's not just that," he continued. "It's as if she knows I'm tracking her. I keep getting false leads in places like Taiwan and Iowa. She's throwing me off," he uttered, frustrated.

"How the hell can she do that?" Dean asked him. "I thought she isn't powerful yet."

"She's only taken in a part of the spirit," Cas answered. "But even that tiny, miniscule part has enough power to make her as strong as an angel. The full power is much, much more, but she's already as powerful as I am," Cas explained.

Sam let out a low whistle. "So basically, we're still screwed."

"Pretty much," Dean agreed, and he slumped onto the bench next to Sam. "What the hell are we gonna do?" he asked weakly.

"Well…There's always Crowley," Castiel mentioned after a few moments of thought.

"What?" Dean asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Sam said, nodding his head, the idea catching on. "Yeah." He turned his gaze towards Dean. "We could force him to help us out with... with a summoning spell," he ventured to say.

Dean stared back blankly. "Are you two out of your mind?" he asked angrily. "We aren't asking _Crowley _for help. He's the goddamn king of hell!"

"Yeah, Dean, and this is Chaos, an evil entity a hundred times worse than Lucifer! Look, I wouldn't even think this if there was another way, but Dean… we're out of options," Sam said seriously.

"Crowley's help would give you a considerable amount more strength in resistance to fight Chaos," Cas added. "Given that I can't help you, Crowley's power would definitely help fight Chaos, or atleast distract him for a while."

"Well... Well, how do we know Crowley will help us anyway?" Dean spluttered, the unconvinced look still plastered on his face.

"We don't," Castiel admitted. "But I believe it is worth a shot."

Dean stared at the angel for a few moments before shrugging his shoulders. "Alright. But when this plan goes wrong, you gotta clean up the mess," he said tiredly.

xxxxx

Arya broke out of her vision, opened her eyes, and shook her head sadly. _Crowley's going to lead them the wrong way,_ she thought worriedly. And they were getting dangerously close to her trail. Cas wasn't satisfied with the angel explanation for the aura. She could tell that he was doubtful even though she was scrying in on their conversation all the way from her house. She had perfected the technique of reading people weeks ago.

Fat load of good it would do her against Chaos.

_Focus,_ she berated herself. _You have less than ten hours to figure out how you're gonna weaken him. _She knew she had no chance of trapping him again. That would have to happen later, when she… _if _she had took in the entire spirit's power, and she was still… herself. _Focus, _she thought again, concentrating on channeling some power into three blue spheres around her, picturing techniques and strategies in her mind.

Unfortunately, she couldn't keep her mind from wandering back to her friends. When Ereziel had shown up, she had been so frightened that he would realize who she was. Thankfully, he had been too caught up in the moment to look right under his nose, but that was too close. Plus, she was under the constant strain from the warding spell she'd placed on herself so that Cas wouldn't find her, and so she had forgotten about hiding her aura as well. _Stupid, _she thought. _Stupid, stupid, stupid… _

"YES, I QUITE AGREE." Chaos' voice rang loudly through her head, causing the blue spheres to vanish and Arya to cringe in pain.

"Get out of my head, Chaos," Arya spat, immediately blocking him out by casting a wall around her mind.

His sigh shook the room, and he popped into view right in front of her.

"Ironic, really," he mused. "You have wards from me now on pretty much everyone in town, and the angel Castiel, and your parents, wherever they are," he uttered slowly. "And yet… no ward from me on yourself. Too much energy consumed already, I assume?" he asked mockingly.

Arya glared at him. Suddenly, without warning, she shot a blast of blue energy straight into his chest. His mocking expression changed to surprise, and he barely blocked it in time, but then he regained his composure and smiled eerily at her. "Yes... Now that's more like it. It would be _so_ much easier for you and more fun for me if you were to say yes to the full spirit, though. Set the stakes higher. Maybe blow up a few monuments," he said with relish.

Arya brought her hands near her side, and a large blue sphere began to form in between them. "I have eight hours left. Give me my eight hours," she replied, her voice dangerously low. She was tired of Chaos taunting her. She was tired of trying to hide herself. She was tired of draining herself of energy to fight evil over and over, and she was _definitely_ tired of putting up with all the crap life kept throwing at her. "Leave _now_."

Chaos, of course, did not leave, but instead sneered coldly. "Well, look at the Seeker now. Hasn't even taken in the full power and is already fraying at the threads. Mark my words, you'll go more evil than I ever was –"

"GAHHHH!" Arya let out a guttural scream and the sphere of energy went flying, as did every single object in the room. The ground shook and the air burned hot, and Chaos disappeared with a flash of black light. Arya stopped screaming and breathed heavily. After a while, enough adrenaline left her system for her to realize where she was again, and she glanced around her to assess the damage. _Damage I've done,_ she thought wearily, as she noted the broken furniture and scorched walls. _All I can do is damage. Hurt, bad, evil, damage._

She fell to her knees and closed her eyes.

**xxxxxxx**

**Phew! So, what do you think? It's all boiling down in eight hours...  
>I'd love your reviews! :)<strong>


	12. Chapter 12

**And we are back on schedule! Enjoy! :)**

**xxxxxxx**

"This is crazy," Dean mumbled as he pounded the opaque purple pieces of god-knows-what into a fine powder in a wooden bowl.

"Yes, you've said that about a hundred times now, Dean," Sam replied offhandedly as he flipped through some yellowed and crinkled pages. "This is it, right Cas?" he asked, walking near the door and tilting one paper at the angel outside, who was still prevented from coming inside by the warding symbols.

Cas glanced over it for a moment and then nodded. "Yes. It will be more powerful than your usual summoning spell, and will chain him to appear in the demon circle when you summon him," he stated. "Dean, did you finish painting it on the floor?"

"Yeah," Dean replied. He finished grinding the powder and held it out to Sam. "Here."

Sam took it and walked over to the small table where the rest of the ingredients were in a bowl. He looked at Dean and then glanced at Cas. "Here we go," he said bracingly, and he emptied the powder into the bowl. A poof of white smoke rose out into the air, and they waited apprehensively for the king of hell to show up.

"And what the hell," drawled a voice from the smoke, "do you think you're playing at?"

The smoke cleared, and the boys could see Crowley glaring at them, trapped inside the circle on the floor.

"Crowley," Dean said with a fake smile. "Great to see you."

"What do you two want?" he asked snappily.

"The same thing as you," Sam replied smoothly. "Chaos gone."

Crowley started at the name and his eyes flitted around the room nervously. "Are you trying to kill me?" he asked agitatedly. He opened his mouth to say something, stopped himself, took a deep breath, and continued. "I _love_ Chaos. We're best mates. He's going to… revolutionize the part of the demon. All hell will break loose - literally," he said, trying to seem pleased.

"And push you out of your position? Jeez, what a douche," Dean retorted flippantly.

"We know you want to be the biggest bully on the playground, and we're willing to help you get your spot as king back," Sam said seriously. "All you gotta do is give us some charged up ammo."

Crowley sighed. "Your ignorance is, as always, a right pleasure to endure, Moose." He turned his focus onto the younger brother, and said slowly, as if explaining something to a toddler, "Nothing I can give you will do you any good. The only person who can have any affect on Chaos at all is the Seeker, and given that she's having a nice little holiday for herself right now, I suggest – again – that you stop meddling in affairs too big for your tiny little brains."

"Do you know anything of the Seeker's whereabouts?" Cas asked forcefully.

Crowley rolled his head around to raise his eyebrows at the angel. "If I did, she'd already be in my possession. She'd make an excellent bargaining chip. She's like an armed nuclear warhead, except smaller and meaner. Now, are you going to release me, or will I have to call my cronies?"

"You can't do anything in there," Sam argued.

"Try me," Crowley replied with a smirk. Sam blinked unsurely, and then glanced at Dean questioningly.

"Hang on… meaner? You say that like you know her," Dean told Crowley suspiciously.

Crowley gave the Winchester an annoyingly knowing smile. "Let's just say that the only person who frightens me more than Chaos is the Seeker." With those words, he disappeared.

"What-" Dean spluttered, and he and Sam immediately looked around agitatedly.

"Dean," Sam said urgently, and he pointed at a tiny break in the demonic circle caused by droplets of water leaking from the water pipe on the wall.

"Damn shabby hotels!" Dean exclaimed irritatedly.

"I'm sorry, I should have noticed," Cas muttered, but Dean cut him off.

"None of us saw it, Cas, we were too busy listening to what that asshole was saying. Which was pretty much," he said as he looked at Sam, "that he _does_ know the Seeker. And she scares him more than Chaos," he said in wonder.

"I don't know, Dean. Since when does Crowley admit to being scared of anyone?" Sam asked. "It looked like he was just messing with us. He's on Chaos' good side, and he wants it to stay that way," Sam reasoned.

"Hey, you were the one who wanted to summon him in the first place," Dean replied. "Cas, what do you think?"

"I… I don't think we have any reason to believe anything Crowley says. He didn't say much in the first place, though."

Dean let out a big breath and turned to look at Sam. "So," he started to say, sitting down on the bed tiredly. "Back to square one, then." _We are actually completely out of options now,_ he realized.

Sam was thinking along the same lines. "Well… silver, salt, and normal bullets don't work on him, so… we improvise. Maybe beheading will stop him," he spitballed.

Cas shook his head. "He is the most powerful and dangerous entity to ever exist," he argued. "A simple thing such as beheading wouldn't put a scratch on him."

"And once again the award for most uplifting comment goes to Castiel," Dean said sarcastically. "Cas?" he asked concernedly, noting the sudden preoccupied look on the angel's face.

"I… I believe I just picked up a trace of the Seeker in northern Russia," Cas said. "I need to go check it out," he informed them.

"Northern Russia?" Dean asked skeptically. "Could be her throwing you off," he said with a shrug.

"It could be," Cas agreed. "But I should still go."

"Right, of course," Sam said. "Good luck."

Cas nodded, and with a gust of wind, he was gone.

Dean sighed, and Sam sank onto the chair. "I guess we're just gonna have to wait until something happens," Sam said resignedly.

Of course, fate did not seem to want to let the brothers wait and rest.

Almost immediately after Sam made that statement, the lights in the room began to flicker on and off, and the air grew ten degrees colder. "Dean!" Sam exclaimed worriedly, as both of them drew their guns, but they both dropped their weapons in pain as a loud voice echoed in their heads.

"I DID SAY WE WOULD MEET AGAIN SOONER THAN YOU WOULD THINK," resonated Chaos as the Winchesters dropped to their knees, their hands over their ears. "THE ISOLATED GRAVEYARD BY THE HIGHWAY. IN ONE HOUR. I'M BRINGING ALL MY LITTLE FRIENDS, TOO. BACK FROM THE DEAD, THAT IS. AND WE'LL ALL HAVE A NICE FEAST OF HUMAN FLESH AND SOULS AFTERWARDS. I THOUGHT YOU WOULD ENJOY WATCHING HELPLESSLY. AFTER ALL, I HAVE A LESSON TO TEACH YOU TWO, ABOUT KNOWING YOUR PLACE." The ground trembled as his voice then left them, and the lights steadily came back on. The brothers rubbed their ears wearily and shakily got up.

"Jesus," Dean moaned. Sam looked at him worriedly.

"It's a trap," he said.

"We still gotta go," Dean replied seriously. "We gotta stop him. Somehow, some way, we gotta stop him. We can't let him raise the dead and kill everyone…"

Sam nodded gravely. "It sounds like this is it," he said. "This is where he either makes his debut or we stop him."

"We'll stop him," Dean said, shaking his head and reaching for his jacket. "We'll find a way, like we always do," he reiterated, smiling slightly at his younger brother.

Sam gave his brother a small, sad smile, and then he nodded determinedly. "Let's go find this graveyard."

xxxxxx

"Your time is almost up. You have one hour."

"I know," sighed Arya. "I will come to you when the time is up."

"Will you?" Chaos asked delightedly. "I look forward to your surrender. I invited your friends to watch."

Arya closed her eyes, her worst fear confirmed. After a few moments, she opened them and said defiantly, "Good. I'll want an audience when I kick your ass."

The smile melted off Chaos' face, replaced by an ugly expression. "You, along with your precious Winchesters and everyone else in the world will kneel before me by sunset," he sneered. He disappeared in a puff of cold black smoke.

Arya stood in her house for a few precious minutes, completely still. _This is it,_ she thought. _This is it._

She finally shook herself out of her trance and started up the stairs to find her new sweater. She'd go down in style.

**xxxxxxx**

**Last chapter building suspense! Get ready for the next chapter... It's all gonna happen! Action! Fighting! Reveal! Angst! Woohoooo!  
>Please review! :)<strong>


	13. Chapter 13

**Well... Long time no see! Hehe...he...he... ah.  
>Sorry! I know it's been a long, loong, loooong while, but... well, I could blame school and activities, but really, I just hate endings. This was the hardest chapter to write so far, because I really want to try to wrap up all the loose ends. Your reviews made this even more fun to write, and honestly I was surprised people would even read my story, so I was happily proven wrong! Thanks for sticking through it all and being awesome!<br>Anyway... Enjoy!**

**xxxxxxx**

Sam finished texting Arya about what they were doing and nervously looked out the window as the Impala cruised down the road and spluttered to a stop near the side of a tall, weathered, iron gate.

He turned to gaze at Dean. "No angels at all. That was easy," Sam mentioned.

"Too easy," his brother replied as he glanced around, troubled. The trees in the graveyard had browning leaves that fluttered to the ground in the gentle breeze. Nobody else was in sight – which was good for them, it meant this would go unnoticed, hopefully – but the silence was eerie and foreboding. Sam and Dean each had their guns, but they also had a sharp knife to try beheading anyway, and large bottles of holy water. Dean turned back to look at his brother, who shrugged. Sam was obviously troubled about the lack of angry angels too. _This whole thing is a suicide mission, _Dean thought to himself. They had no way to kill Chaos, but there was no way they were going to let that minor detail stop them from going down fighting. Dean watched his younger brother get out of the car and followed his lead. "Sammy…" he started to say, but trailed off. Feelings had never been his strong point. He wanted to tell Sam he was sorry for the trials, sorry about Kevin, sorry about those kids dying, and most of all, he wanted his brother to truly know that he cared for him and would… screw it, he would always love him. Dean gazed into Sammy's big eyes that looked more mature and older than he remembered them being, but in those few seconds that Sam looked back at him, he knew Sam understood. The brothers needed no words – in those few seconds, they said everything they wanted to say. Sam gave Dean a small smile, and then nudged his head towards the graveyard.

"Let's do this," Sam said resignedly. With that, the brothers stealthily made their way through they gate and past hundreds of old, rotting graves. Some had a few dead flowers by the stone, but most were worn over by decades of oblivion. There was no one in sight, and it was obvious that this cemetery had long since been forgotten. As they got further into the graveyard, the air became thicker and almost suffocating, and the wind rustled dark, suspicious-looking bushes agitatedly. Other than that, there was no noise, until Dean suddenly tensed up and stopped walking.

"What?" Sam whispered, looking around alertly. Dean tilted his head and turned his attention on a bush some fifty feet away.

"I saw something move," Dean murmured as he pointed his gun and cautiously made his way towards the bush. Sam stealthily followed him, his gun out as well. The bush was abnormally larger than its neighbors, making it a rather obvious hiding spot. Sam and Dean braced themselves for whatever they were about to face, but neither of them would ever have guessed what suddenly rose up from the bush.

"_Arya_?" Sam asked incredulously. Next to him, Dean gazed in shock with his mouth wide open. Arya looked at him sheepishly as a few twigs fell out of her hair, and said, "Hi."

"What the… _hell_ are you doing here?" Dean asked her, and even though he tried to keep his voice low, the anger and worry was evident in it. "Chaos is here! Get out of here!" He quickly looked around to make sure there was still nobody else there, and then grabbed her by the shoulders and started steering her in the direction of the gate. She jumped at his touch, and Dean pulled back in concern. "You're burning hot!" he realized. He searched Arya's face quickly and suddenly noticed how… _weak _she looked. "Are you sick?"

"Wha – no, I'm not," Arya replied breathlessly, her eyes shifting around the graveyard.

"Look Arya, you need to get out of here," Sam said urgently. "Any moment now-"

"Yes, I know, Chaos is here," she snapped back. "And… and I want to be here for you," she said, softly and earnestly.

"That's really great," Dean told her rapidly, still glancing around. _Kid, your loyalty and bravery will kill you, _he thought to himself."But you're 15," he continued whispering furiously, "and you're not a hunter, and you need to get back to safety before-"

"Why, hello!" cried a voice that sent shivers down the brothers' back. Before either of the three could blink, they were flown towards the voice and thrown onto the ground. Sam and Dean immediately got up to fight, but a shimmering force enclosed them into a large, transparent cage.

_Not this again, _Sam thought frantically, pounding at the walls that held him in. Next to him, Dean did the same. For some reason, Arya seemed incredibly calm, but Sam didn't have much time to ponder that.

"And in case you're wondering, no." Chaos slowly strode towards them, his face darker than ever, and his mouth twisted into a sneer. "No, Sam, you will not be able to break free from your cage this time. You gave up your chance to rule with me… and now I am much stronger." He gave an eerie, sickening grin.

"Not for much longer," Sam retorted angrily, still struggling.

Chaos smiled. "Oh, I beg to differ. Not only will I soon have my army of the living dead," he uttered as he gestured to the graves around them, "but I also have… this." He snapped his fingers, and the Winchesters watched in horror as the air around Chaos shimmered, and suddenly Ereziel and about twenty other angels appeared next to him. Except they weren't angels anymore – their eyes were a deep red, and all their faces were completely devoid of emotion.

"No…" Dean murmured, and he quickly scanned the angels' faces for the one face he cared about. He heard Sam make a small, sad noise and Arya give a small gasp, and he knew before he found him. There, in the middle of the army of evil angels, was Cas, staring straight ahead. No, it wasn't _their_ Cas anymore, it was indifferent, red-eyed Castiel. "No, no, no, Cas!" Dean cried. "Cas!" Sam closed his eyes in sorrow.

"Silence," Chaos said, and with a sweep of his hand, Dean's vocal cords would not work. "No amount of pitiful screaming will bring him back. He is mine," Chaos said with relish. "All of them are. God's sorry helpers… bowing to my will." He let out an icy chuckle. "If it makes you feel any worse," he continued happily, "he was protecting you flies from the other angels. They were about to barge in and rid the earth of you two. Pity he stepped in and stopped them… but it made no difference. I sensed them, and I thought to myself, what better generals of my army than angels? After all, I do love some irony. So I found them, and all it took was for me to step just close enough, and they realized their potential for causing chaos and gave in to me, their savior. You could have led them, Sam Winchester," Chaos mused, focusing his cruel gaze on the younger Winchester.

Sam stared back at him with cold fury. "I never will. Go to hell," he declared.

Chaos sighed. He turned to look at Dean, and then his gaze lingered on Arya, whom Sam noticed had not made a sound, but kept closing her eyes as if she was gathering her courage to do something. _Don't say anything, Arya, don't you dare, _Sam thought. _If anything happens to you, I will never forgive myself._

"Well," Chaos resumed talking, now addressing his army of angels. "The time is up, and it appears that the Seeker has made her decision." _What? _Sam thought, confused. Chaos sighed again, almost like a disappointed bully who had been looking forward to a fight. "I must say –"

"Wait, what decision?" Dean asked, his voice seemingly restored after Chaos had forgotten about him. "The Seeker hasn't done squat," he claimed, trying to buy them time by talking while his mind whirled through different strategies. _The asshole's suddenly gotten ten times more cocky. He wants to give a monologue, let's make it a nice long one. _"It's _her_ you should fight, not this town," Dean continued, and he heard Arya give a humorless chuckle, but he kept his focus on Chaos. "Why _this_ town, anyway?"

Chaos stared at him in a way that chilled him to the bone, but Dean forced himself not to look away. Finally, Chaos broke into another creepy smile. "Oh, ignorant flies. I suppose I understand why the spirit decided to inhabit one of them. They are such naïve and _stupid _little pets_._" Chaos cocked his head and looked at them intently. _He's gotten drunk on power, _Sam realized. _He's so powerful he knows he can jest because he knows he will win. _That thought did not help him feel any better. "This pathetic little town houses the pathetic little Seeker of yours," Chaos spat. "What better way to greet my new rival than to burn down everyone she cares for?" he asked happily.

_The Seeker lives here? _Sam wondered. He looked at Dean, who seemed as perplexed as he did. Chaos saw them do that and let out a chilling laugh. "I see why you like them," he said, now addressing Arya. "Buffoons they may be, but rather endearing when they scratch their heads," he scoffed.

Both Sam and Dean turned to look at the silent teenager next to them in puzzlement. "What is he talking about?" Dean asked her quietly and confusedly, gazing into her eyes and noticing with surprise how… _sad _they looked. Sad and old.

"Yes, what is the evil entity talking about?" Chaos repeated delightedly. "I'm going to enjoy feeding off of this." The brothers didn't pay any attention to him, however, because their eyes were trained on Arya as she continued to stare at the ground. _Wait… it can't be…_

"Just know that…" she started to say, still staring determinedly at the ground. "None of it was fake," she murmured. Before either of them could comprehend what she had said, however, she got up steadily. The brothers gazed in astonishment as she glided through Chaos' shimmering barrier as if it wasn't there. _How the hell did she do that?_ Dean wondered. _She's not… No_, he thought as the gears slowly clicked into place. She walked out to face Chaos, but then looked back at them. Her face betrayed nothing, but her eyes looked almost… guilty. However, that was only for a millisecond, and when she turned her attention to Chaos, Dean could not recognize her anymore. Gone was the skinny, gawky young girl. Suddenly, she carried herself taller and her face was an emotionless stone.

"Arya…" Sam whispered, the gears clicking for him as well, but she did not hear him. _The Seeker living here, _he thought as he put things together. _The aura Cas talked about in our hotel, right after she visited us, her somehow knowing more about supernatural creatures than us, her knowing Cas… It all makes sense, _he realized.

"I've been looking forward to this," Chaos sneered. "I know how this will end. You _have _to give in to the spirit completely."

Arya stared him straight in the eye. "We'll see about that," she replied evenly. "But I must say, I'm disappointed. After all you said to me about my weakness, you decide you need backup against me?" she asked mockingly, gesturing at the stiff angels. Dean looked at Sam in alarm. Arya' voice was cold and manipulative – not the playful, warm one that they knew.

Chaos' face twisted into an ugly expression. "I do not need them," he stated, and for the first time he turned his gaze completely away from his army. "Especially not against the likes of your pathetic, weak self."

Arya smiled humorlessly. "Good." Suddenly, she snapped her fingers, and every angel's eyes turned back to their normal color. They looked around, in a daze, but immediately turned to Arya when she spoke. "Leave now," she said, not kindly. To Sam and Dean's amazement, without any further argument, every angel disappeared, and Chaos let out an indignant grunt. Sam gazed at her with his mouth wide open. _Who is this girl, really? _he wondered. _Has she always been this powerful… thing? Is this what she's really like?_

"You," Chaos said accusingly, tilting his head at Arya, his eyes gleaming. "You manipulated me."

Arya smiled serenely. "Yes, I did."

To her surprise, this caused Chaos to grin. "And I'm supposed to be the evil, scheming one," he said mockingly. Sam's brow furrowed at that comment, but then he tensed up. After years of hunting, he could tell the strike was going to come soon.

Arya's face remained emotionless, but Sam could see her eyes were troubled as she struggled to find her retort. "Well-"

"NO!" Sam cried as Chaos suddenly shot a huge sphere of dark energy straight at Arya, and Dean yelled by his side. _I can't watch her die, _Sam thought hopelessly, but neither of them needed to worry about anything. The two watched in disbelief as Arya calmly flicked her hand and the sphere crumbled away inches from her face. She had not moved an inch.

"You practiced," Chaos uttered grudgingly.

Arya looked at him with a gleam in her eyes. "And more," she replied, and suddenly she thrust her arms out, and a blue sphere of her own flew to attack Chaos. He quickly deflected it, and soon the two were encompassed by a whirlwind of bolts of energy and power as they fought each other as fast as lightning. _All this time, _Dean thought as he watched helplessly and in awe. _All this time, you were right there, and it was you. _The brothers could do nothing but watch as the spunky little teenager whom they'd thought they had known transformed into something else, blocking and countering and attacking the most powerful entity in creation. _She sent us his venom in a vial,_ Dean suddenly remembered. It seemed like years ago when Arya had sent them the tiny container of what they had thought was hectoplasm and Sam was forced to relive his worst nightmares. _If she really was the Seeker then too, then that means she knew what it could do, and she sent it to us,_ he realized with a chill. Suddenly, he was very unsure about who really was the good person in this battle.

"This is getting boring!" cried Chaos after a while as he barely dodged a crackle of pulsing energy, but Sam and Dean could hear the slight quaver in his voice as he desperately fought back. "There's so much betrayal in the air I will never be hungry again!" he yelled at her, gesturing at the brothers who stood silently and dumbfounded. The brothers noticed that Arya did not even look at them. _It's like she doesn't care we exist, _Dean thought bitterly. _Is it because she has no more use for us now?_

The ground shook with Arya's every step and she concentrated on channeling her power at Chaos. _Don't look at them,_ she thought to herself. Despite her yearning to check her friends' reactions, she was afraid of what she would read on her faces. Betrayal? Anger? _No. Don't let Chaos see you be weak._

"Do they know?" Chaos taunted loudly. He turned his head to the brothers. "You think the last Seeker was bad?" he drawled, addressing Sam and Dean. "Wait until you see what kind of twisted thoughts this one has when she thinks no one is listening in-" He broke off to shield himself from a storm of glass Arya had thrown at him, but continued relentlessly. "How many people have you killed so far?" he asked mockingly as the glass shards burned up in his black shield.

"Shut up." Arya's voice was quiet and deadly, and all of a sudden the air froze and everything was tense. Sam looked at Dean worriedly. _Does she really have this much power? _Sam thought, trying not to focus on what Chaos had just said about her killing people. _It's almost as if the earth is responding to her feelings… That can't be good, especially not when she's in this state. What if she loses control? _Sam himself didn't know what to think about Arya anymore, but he knew that both he and Dean thought that she was far too good of an actress.

"Making me go quiet won't make it go away," Chaos said, sang in a chilling childish voice. "I see what haunts you every night, what you think you are and what you'll become. The evil, the deaths… and you. You at the center of it, killing them all." Sam and Dean froze at those words and looked at Arya. She had two spheres in her hands, but her feet were rooted to the ground, and for once, her face betrayed her fear. _She's so scared… of herself, _Sam realized. He watched her attempt to push down her emotions and give a cold answer.

"You know nothing. I will not turn," she replied, but Sam and Dean noticed with terror that she seemed a bit unsure of herself.

Chaos tilted his head at her, and gestured at the brothers. "You know. Deep down, you _know_. Even your mother knows you killed your brother. Why else would she blame you for that if she didn't think it was true?" He paused to gauge Arya's expression, seemingly pleased with her darkened, conflicting face. _Her brother who fell of a waterfall trying to save her, _Sam remembered. _Why do you still have that weighing on your conscience? You didn't kill him… right? _He broke off from his thoughts as Chaos continued his taunting. "Who else… Oh yes, those three friends of yours. Well, they _thought_ they were your friends. And that group of hunters who came knocking at your door last month, yes, I remember them. Oh, and those four angels, nice little blokes, whom you vaporized… Should I continue?"

Sam spared a worried glance at Dean, who looked just as shocked. _Arya wouldn't… All those people… He's lying, _Sam thought.

_But would she? _asked a tiny voice in his head. _Up until now, Arya wouldn't turn out to be the most powerful person on the planet to viciously fight Chaos, and it turns out she is, _the voice reasoned. _Shut up,_ Sam told it.

He looked back at Arya, who looked desperately vulnerable. "I didn't…" she whispered. "I didn't mean to," she said softly, but confused, as if she wasn't sure if she did or not.

Chaos smiled in what was almost a genuine manner. "There is no need to be scared," he continued. "It is frightening at first, but I can guide you through it. You won't need to be frightened again anymore." Sam realized with a start that Chaos sounded almost… gentle. _This is not good, _he thought, and so he yelled, "Arya, don't listen to him! He's not-"

Quick as lightening, Chaos' expression melted into a scowl, and he shot two large spheres of energy straight at the two brothers. Sam and Dean threw up their arms in front of their faces and braced themselves. _This is the end, _Sam thought, but suddenly Arya cried out, "NOO!", and two golden shimmering barriers appeared in front of the brothers. The spheres collided into the barriers and were absorbed completely, and Sam and Dean relaxed their arms in relief, but then they cried out together in fear as Arya immediately flew fifty feet backwards and fell to the ground.

"Arya!" Sam yelled, and both he struggled to go to her, but he was still prevented from moving anywhere by Chaos' cage. _She has to be ok, _Sam thought frantically, and he let out a breath when he saw her shakily get up.

"Did you really expect that you could ward them both without feeling the consequences?" Chaos asked disdainfully. Dean looked at Sam, alarmed, and they both thought the same thing. _Did she just take those two hits for us to keep us safe?_

"What consequences?" Arya asked boldly, her face steady and emotionless once again, all traces of her unsure fear from moments ago gone. She brought her hands to her side and a crackling blue sphere appeared, and the two resumed their whirlwind of powerful fighting. This time, however, the damage from indirectly taking those hits was obviously taking its toll on her. Arya's reactions were more sluggish, and she breathed heavily as she grew more and more tired.

"She's hurt," Sam thought out loud, helpless to do anything for her. Both the brothers cringed when she failed to see a sphere on her right and was hit on her side. To the brothers' relief, she didn't fly backwards this time, but they noticed after a while that it had done something far worse. She continued to fight, but every few seconds a dark current of power crackled within her, and she kept cringing and biting her lip in pain. Chaos smirked and pressed his advantage, and began to throw bolt after bolt of dark energy at her. Arya tried to evade them, but Sam and Dean could see that she was nearing exhaustion, and sure enough, the moment she hesitated too long, a bolt slammed into her chest, followed by another ten that found their target easily after the first one made its mark. Arya dropped to her knees, struggling to stay up, relying on leaning on her hands for support.

Chaos took a step towards her steadily and sneered. "Did you really think that you could succeed against me without your full power?" he taunted her. "You can't even kill people properly, let alone save people properly. I really don't understand why the spirit chose _you_ of all people," he uttered as he neared her menacingly.

_He's going to kill her,_ Dean realized with a start. Quickly, he glanced at Sam, and the two reached a wordless understanding. Betraying liar or not, Arya had been their friend, and at any rate, they needed her to defeat Chaos. _We need to help her,_ Dean thought frantically._ But how… _He glanced around at their transparent cage. _Maybe we could dig under it? _Quickly, he tried that, but the ground was rock solid. _No, no, there has to be another way to help her…_

Chaos tilted his head as he stood by Arya, who trembled and stared at the ground. "You knew it would end this way," he said softly, and the Winchesters found themselves surprised once again at the way his voice seemed almost… tender. _This isn't right, _Dean thought. _This guy has some serious bipolar issues…_

Arya looked up at him, and the brothers couldn't help but feel impressed at how bold and defiant she was even when she was so injured. She looked around a bit for a witty retort, but then sighed. "It was worth a try," she spoke, all will and resilience suddenly gone. She glanced around her, at the wilting surroundings and the tossed up dirt from the fighting, and then rested her eyes on the brothers. Neither of them could read her expression, but finally, she looked back at Chaos and said, "Give me some privacy."

At her words, Chaos grinned maniacally. Then his face suddenly turned sour. "You have five minutes," he replied tersely. He took a step back and turned away, and added, "Don't keep me waiting." With that, he disappeared, and suddenly the air was lighter. Arya fell to the ground in exhaustion and pain at the same time that Sam and Dean's cage crumbled to pieces with Chaos' absence.

Sam glanced at Dean worriedly, and then hurried to Arya's side. Dean whispered urgently, "Sammy, wait!", but Sam didn't hear him.

Dean hesitated. _Where the hell did Chaos go? _he wondered. _And she's not… gonna blow us up or something, is she? _But Dean decided he might as well be near with Sammy if she tried to do anything. This whole incident reminded himself the one rule he kept forgetting: never trust anyone. _I thought she was a good kid… I'm not so sure anymore, _he thought as he swiftly moved towards her.

Thoughts raced through Sam's mind as he ran towards the girl whom he thought understood him so well. _I guess everyone has dark secrets, _he thought, _but Arya… This… I just don't know what to think. _Still, the innate sense of compassion in him caused him to rush to her aid, and he hoped beyond hope that he would not have to witness another death.

Arya was barely propped up on her elbows, and her breathing was shallow. Bruises and cuts covered every inch of her, but it was obvious that she was hurt more seriously inside, and her entire body shivered violently. Her eyes were closed when Sam and then Dean knelt by her side, and Sam cautiously touched her shoulder. Dean tensed up, but nothing happened, and Sam gave Dean a pointed look, as if to say, _she may have been lying the whole time, but she's still a good person. _Suddenly, a spark of black current lashed out from her shoulder to Sam's hand, shocking him and causing him to rip his hand away.

"Don't… touch me…" Arya said weakly, still closing her eyes. "Not… safe," she stuttered. Dean glanced at Sam worriedly, then turned back to Arya to gauge her injuries.

"Arya…" Dean started to say, realizing the situation was hopeless. "You're-"

"You're gonna be ok," Sam interrupted, refusing to accept the inevitable. Arya carefully opened her eyes and tried to open her mouth as well to say something, but Sam shushed her. "No, don't waste energy, you're gonna be ok, alright?" he told her in what he hoped was a convincing tone.

"Sam," Arya whispered urgently. "Please-"

"No, no, don't talk. Look, we'll talk things out later, just…" he paused as a realization suddenly hit him hard and flashes of past occurrences ran through his mind. "It was you," he thought out loud, "when Ereziel had us pinned to the wall, _you_ were the one who loosened us up and stopped the pain!" Sam gave a small sad chuckle. "I should have known, you were right there-"

"Sam," Arya said in a stronger voice. "Please… shut up." The brothers gave a start, because with those words, Arya suddenly pushed herself up from her position so that she was sitting upright. The many bruises began to fade from dark black and purple to a tinge of green.

"How are you…" Dean stumbled. Arya gave him a small, sad smile.

"Temporary immortality, remember?" she replied. Her face contorted in pain, and she grimaced, "Although… not complete… healing abilities," and she rubbed at her side.

"So you're alright then?" Sam asked her worriedly, although inside he was deeply relieved.

"Well," she grumbled as she scrunched her eyes shut again in pain. "Depends on what you define as… as alright…" She trailed off as she opened her eyes again and seemed to realize what had just happened. Arya's eyes shifted from Sam to Dean, and then down to the ground. "I, um… I understand how you guys are feeling right now-"

"No, you damn well don't," Dean replied angrily. He was also secretly relieved that she was ok, but now that she wasn't in danger, he wanted answers. Proper, honest answers.

"Dean," Sam interjected, but Dean cut him off.

"Sam, we pretended like we didn't know she was hiding something from us the moment we met her, and it turned out to be the one thing we were looking for this whole time! If she-" Dean stopped himself, and then he turned to focus on Arya. "If you hadn't been so busy eating burritos and sleeping in damn parks, more people would be alive!"

"What was I supposed to do, Dean?" Arya asked him in a dead, emotionless voice. "Take on Chaos when I couldn't even make a proper shield for one person?"

"You could have friggin told us!" Dean retorted. "The whole time you were throwing Cas off your scent and sending us onto dead ends, you could have taken all the damn power and fixed it all, or you could atleast have friggin told us, and we could have figured something out faster and better than… than whatever the hell this was!" he yelled, gesturing at the destroyed graveyard around them. After a few seconds of awkward silence as Dean's voice echoed into the distance, Dean continued saying agitatedly, "So where the hell did Chaos even go? What was the whole 'five minutes' about? And what…" Dean lowered his voice and stared at Arya seriously. "What was with the list of dead hunters and people that, according to Chaos, you supposedly…" Dean trailed off, unable to finish the unspeakable thought, unable to think of Arya doing something like that. _Deny it, deny it all, goddamnit, _he pleaded her desperately. _Say it wasn't you, say he was lying!_

Arya looked at Dean's eyes as if she was looking through him, and then she turned her gaze to the ground. "Chaos… Chaos left to find somewhere more destructive to fight. And… I have five minutes – now down to one – to meet him up and continue the battle before he starts causing worldwide havoc." Arya closed her eyes, and neither brother missed how she did not answer Dean's last question. "So… I have to… I have to do something I've been… trying to avoid…" and with this sentence her voice quavered a little, and the Winchesters suddenly realized how much she was struggling to sound calm. "And there's so much I want to explain, believe me, I had reasons and explanations and I hoped there'd be time to-"

"Arya," Sam interrupted her gently. "We're not going anywhere. There's plenty of time, we'll help you in this fight, and then you can-"

"You don't understand," Arya said agitatedly. "I'm not…" She closed her eyes again, and Sam realized that although she was physically ok, she was definitely not emotionally fine. _She's trying not… to cry? _Sam wondered.

"Look." Arya finally looked the brothers in the eyes. "The truth is, I'm not sure what… I'm not sure if I'll be the same person after I do this, so I need you guys to promise me…"

"Promise you what?" Sam asked concernedly, at the same time Dean asked apprehensively, "What are you going to do, Arya?"

The skinny teenage girl's eyes were haunted and too old for their time as she pointedly didn't answer Dean. "Just… promise me that you won't come looking for me after this, because… I don't know if what you'll find will be…" She trailed off, obviously unwilling to finish her train of thought, but then continued in a determined tone. "You guys are great friends. I'm really glad I met you, you're so much kinder and sincere than-" Arya suddenly tensed up, and Dean and Sam quickly glanced around to see what had happened.

"Don't look for me," she said abruptly.

And Arya was gone.

The brothers were crouched next to an empty space, and the wind rustled dead leaves and upturned dirt around them.

The silence was suffocating.

**xxxxxxx**

**So, reveal! Yay! It all happened! Well - most of it. xD I'm sure you're about to write a very angry review about the cliffhanger, but don't worry! This won't be the last chapter, there'll be one more after this, so it'll all be good :). I never really liked abrupt endings, so I'm gonna try and make sure I tie everything up. Til next time, please review! :D**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hehe... Eh... Hello.  
>GAHH I'm so sorry! Like I said before, I really, REALLY hate endings, and for the past few months I kept thinking about ways I could do this and I really didn't like any of them and I also didn't want to end this experience.<br>So I have good news!  
>This is not the end of the story! Yayyy! :D<br>This is also... different. Things need to be resolved, so for this chapter, Warnings: swearing and implied suicidal thoughts.  
>There will probably be one or maybe even two more chapters after this. I want to make sure I wrap it up nice and proper for all you lovely readers! :)<br>Hope you enjoy!**

**xxxxx **

Sam stared out the window as a teenage girl with long black hair walked down the sidewalk, a long purse swinging by her side.

"Sam."

She had a slight bounce in her step, like _her_, but she was too short, and her strides were too clipped, and besides, _she _would never be wearing hot pink and heels, that wasn't her at all…

"Sammy. You hearing me?" Sam turned his face from the window to look at Dean, who was standing a few feet away in their hotel room and giving Sam the _look. _After doing that for a few moments, Dean said decidedly, "We should leave now, or the boy's parents are gonna come bothering us again. I don't wanna blow our cover, come on." He went back to packing, shoving the few items they had into the duffel bag slightly harder than necessary.

Sam sighed. This case had been the simple run-of-the-mill angry ghost, and they had taken care of it within two days. Sam started to get out of his chair, but tensed and paused as the ground rumbled lightly. He shot a glance at Dean, and they both thought the same thing.

"Come on," Dean repeated, his voice softer than before. "Let's go."

As Sam gathered his things, he thought about the past few months. They had left Happtown many months ago after offering their condolences to Mr. and Mrs. Johnson about their missing daughter Arya. And that had been it.

They'd searched, of course, despite her telling them not to. They looked for signs, and they sure found plenty. But every time they reached the place, it would be empty. Scrubbed clean, all traces gone, empty. And the locals would talk about a horrible man, and a small figure that seemed to make him vanish and who then vanished afterwards. And that would be it.

They had summoned Crowley, obviously, but that son of a bitch didn't help at all. He'd shrug and smirk infuriatingly and then somehow find a way to escape within a few minutes. After doing that two or three times, the brothers gave up on getting anything out of him.

The earthquakes were common now. A week didn't go by without one or two happening. They were never too big, and authorities were clueless as to why they kept occurring, but Sam and Dean could guess. After experiencing up close what a fight was like between Chaos and Ary – no, the Seeker – when they weren't even at full power, the brothers figured that a fight between them at full mojo would, at the very least, shake the earth a little. After all, that was the case: it hadn't taken them very long to figure out that she had to have taken in all of the Seeker's power when she had disappeared. They tried to trace the quakes back to the fault, they tried everything, but every single time, they'd come up with the same thing. Nothing. She would be gone by the time they reached the place.

They discussed what they thought was going through her mind – probably guilt and shame for lying to them, misleading them, nearly killing them by sending them to the warehouse and sending them the venom… the list was pretty long. The initial shock of it had passed long ago, and when they thought about it, it actually made sense. The presence Cas had felt when he had visited their motel hadn't been Ereziel, but her. That would explain why Cas had felt it the first time as well – she had just visited them at that time as well. The bright white flash of light those teens had seen in the park was probably her accepting – or rather, halfway accepting – the Seeker spirit. Sam told Dean about how she had sometimes just looked at him and he had felt Chaos' suffocating venom leave him and had felt much better, and they decided that probably came with the powers package. They agreed that the whole sleeping in the park overnight thing was probably a cover up for some secret excursion, and honestly, they felt stupid they hadn't been smart enough to join the dots earlier.

Dean had given her up as a lost cause weeks ago. Sure, she didn't want to take the whole spirit in because she was worried about what it would do to her, and so Dean admired her for her good intentions. But then she did take it in, and she cut off all contact with anyone after that, so Dean figured that she probably felt she had better things to do than talk to them, mere mortals. And although Sam told him how she'd silently helped relieve their pain when Ereziel had paid them a visit, Dean couldn't help but think Sam was overlooking the fact that, for whatever reason, she'd caused Sam to nearly die by sending them Chaos' venom, and she must've known what the venom would do to him. And there was also the fact that she'd apparently killed four angels, three of her friends, and a group of hunters. Cas couldn't get any info on the angels, but after doing some digging, the brothers realized that Chaos hadn't been lying. Three people connected to Arya had died under mysterious conditions in Happtown, and the missing hunters who'd last been seen looking for the most powerful creature on earth were the talk of all the hunter roadhouses. Dean couldn't overlook any of that. It bothered him, and it angered him, how he could never just meet someone nice. They always had to have another side that would ruin his appetite.

Sam, on the other hand, believed Arya had her reasons. What bothered him was that he didn't know what they were. He had felt like they had understood each other in a way that no one else could; they were similar, in a way, and she was the only person Sam thought could actually relate to him. It saddened him to know that, once again, he knew nothing about someone, but they knew everything about him. But despite everything, Sam still felt that he knew Arya. He had looked into her eyes, and yes, he had seen darkness, but he had seen a hundred times more kindness. In his opinion, Arya emanated compassion, and the reason he felt he understood her was because he thought he saw a little of himself every time he saw her. And that was how he knew that her worst enemy would be herself, and that was why he needed to find her. He knew she needed someone else to help her believe in herself. Like she'd told him, he had Dean to set him straight. Right now, she had no one. He didn't want her to hurt herself by trying to keep everyone else safe. Sam didn't care that she had taken in the entire Seeker spirit. He knew that the Arya he had been friends with would still be there, no matter how deep down, and he would help her through her struggle.

The only thing was that he needed to find her.

Sam let out a huge sigh as he plopped his duffel bag in the back seat of the Impala and then crashed in the passenger seat. "So… where to next?" he asked Dean as he backed out of the parking lot.

"Back to the batcave," Dean said with relish. "I've never looked forward to a decent bed this much."

Sam looked out the window and thought for a while. Then he turned to his brother, and asked quietly, "What about tracing this earthquake and-"

"Come on, Sam!" Dean interrupted. "How many have we tracked down so far, nine? Ten?" Dean shook his head decidedly. "We never find anything, and it's a waste of time. I'm done doing that, Sam."

Sam sighed in exasperation. "Dean, what if this is the one time she sticks around? We've gotta find her and talk to her-"

"Why?" Dean interjected. "What the hell are you gonna say? 'Oh, hi again! Nice to see you after watching you turn out to be a merciless, manipulating psychopath attempting to kill someone with macho powers from above!'"

Sam rolled his eyes. "She was fighting Chaos, Dean. And saving ours, along with everyone else on the planet's lives! Would you rather she have just sat there and get killed with everyone else?"

Dean exhaled deeply. "I just… She scares me, Sammy. Just like Michael did. The way she acted with her power, the way her eyes turned cold… And now that she's on full juice… I'm telling you Sammy, she's gone. It's not smart to go poke King Kong with a stick and hope that he'll remember you as Ann Darrow." Dean glanced at Sam's disappointed face, and then continued talking. "Look, we've been over this before. There's no point hashing it out again."

"Just… just this last time Dean. We'll find her this time, I can feel it. Please."

Dean glanced again at Sam's pleading eyes for a few moments and then sighed. "Fine. This is the last time. And I won't say 'I told you so' when we find the place clean like always."

Sam nodded. "Thanks Dean. Really."

Dean sighed as he pulled the car over. "Trace it," he said resignedly.

xxxxxx

"Atlanta, Georgia… Somehow I thought it'd be bigger," Dean commented as they got out of the parked Impala.

Sam glanced around. "And less sketchy."

Sewer holes and construction tape were all around them, and shady looking characters in hoodies lurked nearby. Some guy ten feet away was alternating between rummaging through the trash and glancing up at the brothers, as if he was sizing them up.

Dean shrugged. "Urban life, man. Gotta love it."

They began discussing their plan as they unpacked in the motel.

"So the earthquake comes from a few blocks away," Sam told Dean as he opened his laptop. "So, what, we pull the fed suits and see what we can find?"

Dean shook his head. "I don't think feds will be too welcome in this area of the city," he said as he tucked his gun into his pocket. "Let's go."

xxxxx

"And where exactly did the girl go afterwards, maam?" Sam asked kindly while stepping aside to let two men walk by on the sidewalk.

"Oh… she took off running towards the lake, I think," replied the old woman, eyeing the men and clutching her purse a little tighter as they passed by. "I've never seen someone run like that," she added suspiciously.

Dean shrugged. "Kids these days, am I right?" he asked with a smile, and then he turned away.

"Smooth, Dean," Sam said as he fell into step with his older brother as they walked towards the lake.

Dean smirked. "What can I say? I please ladies of all ages." Sam shook his head, but then stopped dead in his tracks. Dean looked at him curiously, but then followed his gaze and inhaled sharply.

She was right there. After all those months. Sitting on the grass with her back facing them, and her legs dangling in the green-blue water. The birds chirped happily and the trees swayed slightly in the warm breeze, and nobody else was around. It almost seemed surreal.

Sam took another step forward, but Dean stopped him with his hand. Sam glanced at Dean, who was looking at him in a way that clearly stated, _Something's not right._ Sam looked back at the calm and still figure and quietly agreed. After all these months of her avoiding them, she was suddenly letting them approach her? Either that wasn't Arya, or she was having such a bad day that she hadn't sensed them yet and left. _Normally she would be gone by now_, Sam realized. _Maybe she thought we'd have given up by now?_

The brothers continued approaching her stealthily, but this time they were more alert. They were a few feet away from her when they suddenly heard her voice say, "Don't come any closer." They obeyed, but Sam knelt down on the grass by her side.

"Arya… um… It's us." He noticed worriedly that her entire body was alternating between being rigid and tense and shivering in a suppressed kind of way. "Arya, are you ok? We haven't heard from you in months-"

"Go away," Arya interrupted. Neither brother could see her face, but her voice was shaky and broken.

"We aren't going anywhere," Dean replied easily as he knelt down on the grass as well, but his eyes betrayed his concern. "Not until we have a nice long talk."

"Go away!" Arya responded, and she brought her feet out of the water and curled into a ball. Dean looked at Sam confusedly. Sam thought about putting his hand on Arya's shoulder, but then decided against it.

"Arya… whatever's going on, we're here for you. We'll help you through it. No one has to suffer alone," Sam told her gently. He folded his legs and sat comfortably in the grass next to her. "It doesn't matter to us that you're the Seeker or that you took on the entire spirit or whatever," and at this Dean shot Sam a glance, but Sam kept going. "You're still the same spunky Arya whom Dean got a breakfast burger for and whom we both care about." He waited for a few long minutes, and he tried to ignore the feeling of uncomfortable awkwardness that accompanied the silence.

"No, I'm not," Arya whispered finally, muffled by her arms which were covering her face. "I've done things… before and after the spirit… and I'm not worthy of it, I don't know why it chose me…"

"Hey," Dean said sternly, causing Sam to look at him sharply. "You're a lot of things, ok? And there's a lot of ways things could've gone better at Happtown, and we all made mistakes, you included. But if there's one thing you're not, it's not worthy. I've thought about it, ok? I thought long and hard after you left to fight Chaos, and I realized that of all the people I'd have wanted the Seeker to be, it's you. Because you, Arya, you're kind, and you're smart, and you're everything you need to be, and you definitely worthy of it. So don't tell yourself anything different."

There was another awkward silence after Dean's burst of speech, and Sam looked curiously at his older brother. Dean hadn't talked much about what he really felt about Arya after she'd left, except to make it clear that he thought she was a lost cause. _"Power does things to people," _Dean had said, with a significant look at him, and so Sam had left it at that. But it was now obvious to Sam that Dean had simply been trying to convince himself out of hoping for the better, and now, his brotherly instinct was taking over.

Dean couldn't help but be slightly pleased with himself when Arya peeked out of her shell to look at him timidly, but he was slightly less pleased when she jumped up, horrified, and backed a few steps away.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?" she asked, stressed and anxious, as if she was seeing them for the first time. The brothers finally got a good look at her face, and with a start, they realized how worn out she looked. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her eyes looked wild.

"We just wanted to talk to you," Sam replied unsurely, slowly grasping just how volatile Arya was at this moment.

Arya looked at Sam, then at Dean, and then at Sam again. She was breathing hard and looked almost like a deer in headlights. "You…" she trailed off, but then swallowed and shook her head. "You can't be here. You're not supposed to…" She trailed off again and then looked at her surroundings quickly. "How… how did I get here?" she mumbled to herself, lost somewhere in her thoughts, but then her head jerked up suddenly when Sam took a step towards her. "Stay away from me!" she yelled, and Sam stayed rooted to the spot.

Sam was really worried now. _She fraying at the nerves,_ he realized. _It's too much for her, and she's been dealing with it by herself for too long. _"Arya," he heard himself say as calmly as he could. "We just want to talk. It's been months now, and we haven't even seen you. You're our friend, we just want –"

"No, no, no, I'm not your friend," Arya replied emphatically. "I'm dangerous, I can't control it anymore, and you're not safe around me, so go, just go away-"

"Like I said before, we're not going anywhere," Dean interrupted smoothly, but before he could do any more, Arya gave a frustrated groan. However, the moment that noise left her mouth, a gust of burning hot air swooped down and blew the Winchesters off their feet and threw them a few feet away.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Arya cried. She went a few steps towards them as if to help the brothers up, but then shrank away. "You see?" she said as the brothers pushed themselves off the grass. "I'm not safe! Just go, before I do something else!"

Dean brushed himself off as Sam gave Arya a small smile. "Sorry Arya," Sam replied kindly. "You can't get rid of us that easily."

Arya looked at him and opened her mouth as if to retort, but then she suddenly sank onto the grass and curled into a ball again.

Dean glanced at Sam and they both thought the same thing. _She's falling apart…_

"Hey," Dean said softly as he knelt on the grass again. "Talk to us. It's getting out of control? Maybe… maybe we can do something to help."

Arya let out a bitter chuckle from inside her shell. "There's not much you can do, Dean. This isn't something that you can just give a pill and hope it goes away."

"Then what is it?" Sam asked earnestly, relieved that she sounded slightly normal again. "If you don't talk to us, there's no way we have any idea of what to do to help."

Arya stiffened, turned to face him, and opened her mouth as if to say something. She stopped herself and stared at the ground, before saying, "Why are you guys even trying to help me?" She stole quick glances at the brothers, and at seeing their confused looks, continued, "You heard Chaos. You know what I did. I've killed people. Innocent people, people I should have saved. He wasn't lying when he said that, he was telling the truth. You should stay away from me because I'm a monster." Her voice cracked a little on the last word, and she continued to stare determinedly at the grass. "And don't say it doesn't matter," she added, "because it does. It matter, it matters so much…"

Dean shook his head gently. "Can't scare us off that easily."

Sam finally placed his hand carefully on Arya's shoulder. She flinched, but did not brush it away, which Sam took as a good sign. "Of course it matters, Arya. Don't think we're letting you get away without explaining. But we know you'll have a good reason. You think things through, and you would never, _never _let anyone get hurt without trying your damn best." He took his hand away and looked expectantly at the young girl, only to be met by a dark stare.

"Don't be so sure," she muttered. But Sam refused to look away. He had lost his faith in angels and good people and a lot of other things, but he refused to lose faith in Arya. He just couldn't. And he was rewarded for his faith when she spoke again.

"I… I should have saved them," Arya mumbled slowly, and she closed her eyes and grimaced in pain.

"Why don't you tell us what happened?" Sam asked again gently, aware that she was capable of erupting any second.

Arya shook her head, and the brothers could barely make out the word "can't."

Dean had been looking around restlessly for the past minute, and he took that moment to say, "I'm sorry, but I have to ask. Where's your arch-nemesis? Is he on vacation now or something?" Sam glared at his older brother, to which the latter responded with, "What? I'd just… feel a lot better if I knew Chaos wasn't going to pop up any second now without us being prepared."

"Not that it would do you any good," Arya mumbled. She opened her eyes to focus on Dean. "He's probably in the Bahamas somewhere, killing tourists and partying."

Dean had not been expecting that answer, so all he could manage was a small, "Oh."

Arya noticed Sam's unasked question on his face, so she said resignedly, "I didn't really win the last battle. I mean, I never _win, _but we normally tie with me being slightly better off. But then he goes and gets stronger, and this time, I was too weak. Chaos finished a lot better off, and he's obviously messed me up, I think, which is why I'm still here talking to you guys because otherwise I would have been gone long ago."

Dean couldn't help but notice how emotionless Arya was when she said that.

"But yes, I was weak, and I… I can't keep on… I'm fighting a losing battle," she revealed, rubbing her forehead as Sam and Dean stiffened with this new, grave information. Up until now, they had had no doubt as to who was winning the fights, and the fact that Arya was losing was shocking news. _She's supposed to be the most powerful person in the universe, _Sam thought. _If she's losing against Chaos, what can possibly stop him?_

"I thought you were supposed to be his equal," Dean offered uncomfortably. "Like, uh, in terms of power and all.

Arya sighed. "I wish. Chaos keeps absorbing more strength from m- from victims around the world, and I keep…" she trailed off.

"Keep what?" Sam asked cautiously.

"I'm… I'm not doing well with this…" Arya looked at her hands disgustedly. "This _power."_ Her voice was suddenly stronger._ "_The last Seeker corrupted it, he messed it all up, and I hate him for that, and now it keeps telling me things, and it won't stop," Arya rushed, as if she had been holding all of this behind a dam which had suddenly broken. "It won't stop whispering _things, _and I resist it, and I say no, I won't turn, I won't go bad, I'm not like _him, _but it keeps… And it's tiring, it's so _tiring, _and it's draining me to keep fighting Chaos, but having to fight myself as well is killing me, but obviously I can't die, I can't just _go, _although I wish…" At this, Dean looked at her sharply, but Arya either didn't care or didn't notice, because she was on a roll now. "But he keeps getting behind my defenses while I'm fighting myself, and then he says _things_ too, and he makes Max say things –" Dean glanced at Sam confusedly, who shook his head quickly, and suddenly Dean remembered Sam telling him about Arya's dead older brother, who was _dead_, and if that son of a bitch was making her hear her brother's voice yell at her, god help him… But his attention was quickly drawn back to Arya, who was still going, her voice gradually getting more and more bitter. "- and I tell myself not to let it get to me, because I'm supposed to be the Seeker, for crying out loud, and all it takes is a little fricking blackmail and some voices and I crumble, and _I'm _supposed to be the _protector, _protecting all these people, people who don't care and don't know and people who do worse than Chaos and sometimes I wonder if the things everyone keeps yelling at me are right, if Max is telling the truth, but then I realize what's happening to me and I have to shut it all down, and while I do that Chaos fucking does something else –" Now Sam looked at her sharply, because he had _never _heard her swear, and it sounded to him like she was about to lose control, which worried him, given that she had quite a lot of power to lose control over. "- and I just can't take it anymore, I can't keep suppressing it and keeping it down anymore, and yesterday I blacked out and woke up in Haiti –" The brothers were jolted by this, because there had been a massive tsunami in Haiti the day before that killed thousands of people. "- and I must have caused all those innocent people to die because I am fucking _losing it_, and I'm such a pathetic Seeker and I don't even know why the damn thing chose me, and I'm just like Chaos, and I'm just like the Seeker before me, and I feel tired and _angry _all the time and I know I'm going to go bad because I'm a _fucking_ failure, and Max hates me because I'm a _monster_!"

And Arya finally, truly broke down – she burst into tears that racked her entire body, and she clenched her eyes shut and tried to cover her face with her hands to hide her emotion, but her hands were shaking, and the air around her and the brothers suddenly got very, very cold. Dean quickly looked behind his shoulder, thinking Chaos had finally appeared, but it wasn't Chaos. Cold ice started frosting on the grass, and wind picked up around them. Within seconds, Sam and Dean had to clutch the ground to prevent them from flying away, because the wind had become incredibly strong. Clouds gathered in the sky all over the town and obscured the sun, and the pleasant, warm day suddenly turned into a frozen, dark nightmare. Hail began to pelt buildings and cars all around them, and it fell into the lake creating large, ten foot ripples that quickly doused the brothers. An eerie halo enveloped Arya's sobbing form and protected her from her own doing, but she did not seem to notice a thing.

It was the end of the world.

**xxxxxx**

**What? Another cliffhanger? Don't worry! Things will get better, I promise. Like I said before, I hate sad endings. The Darkest Hour is Just Before the Dawn.  
>Did you notice the Arya-Max Sam-Dean similarity? I was pretty happy with the older-brother-thinks-I'm-a-monster similitude :D Just to clarify, Arya's taken the entire power of the Seeker, she fights Chaos every other day and keeps stopping him from destroying the world, and she's a little - just a little! - unstable because of it all. I think we all would be if we were in her place, don't you?<br>****Anyway, I would love your reviews! Just no flames :D Let me know what you think! And I'm curious, how do you envision this story ending? I haven't written it yet, so maybe I'll incorporate your ideas into the conclusion :)**

**And by the way. You. Yeah, you. Hey. You.**

**If you're at comic con, I have a message for you.**

**ALSDKJFLASKDJFLKASJDFLKAJSLDKFJASLDKJFLKSDJAFL KWHYYYY LSADJFLKSDJFLK WHYYYY WHY NOT MEEELAJKDFLKJASDLKFJ LCRIES SOBS LASKDJFLAKSDJFLSDFJ I WANT TO BE THERE ASJLKDFJALSKDFJL AND MEET THE GODLY MISHA AND JARED AND JENSEN AFLSDKJFLSKDJF HELP**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello, my favorite people! I decided to give you yet another chapter right away because you've been so amazing waiting so long for the last one :)**

**So this is what Arya is thinking at the moment of the ending of the last chapter. It gives you guys a lot of insight as to what exactly is going on with her, and so, because it was necessary, Warning: suicidal thoughts. I hated writing it, but it needed to be done, because Arya's been through quite a lot...**

**Anyway, on to the story! Special shout out to the amazing ladybugsmomma for the kind review!**

**Enjoy!**

**xxxxxx**

She had done it. She had finally done it.

Arya wasn't quite sure what exactly was going on. She remembered fighting Chaos some time ago, and trying – and failing, epically – to dodge a particularly nasty blast of pulsating energy. Strangely, she hadn't felt anything too bad after getting hit, but she knew better than to take it as just that. She knew something would go wrong in the long run, and she would just have to figure it out later.

Of course, what she hadn't been expecting was that it would cause her to have an emotional breakdown.

It didn't just _make_ her break down, obviously, but it caused something inside of her to crack just a tiny bit. And then the weight of everything came crashing down. All because of that stupid tiny crack.

Stupid Chaos. Always two or three steps ahead. Or was it more like five steps? Arya wasn't quite sure. She wasn't quite sure of anything.

She vaguely remembered noticing the boys come up to her by the lake, but she didn't really _notice_, because, like she realized later, Chaos had messed her up. Once she noticed, she nearly teleported herself away.

She should have done that.

Why didn't she do that?

The thought of using all that energy, so much energy, to get up from that pleasant spot by the lake, and go somewhere else, do something else, save someone, prevent another catastrophe… it was too much.

But that wasn't it. She could lie to a lot of people, but she couldn't lie to herself.

Arya was tired of being alone.

The brothers had come all that way, it would be rude to just leave… but no, she wasn't fooling herself. She missed them. She missed her parents. She missed her friends, her school, her clubs, her home, her _life._ She knew she would have to give those things up – she couldn't risk being near those she loved – but she didn't really realize just _how much _it would hurt to be so… alone.

So she had stayed. She had curled up into a little ball and had hoped everything would just sort itself out.

Stupid mistake. Stupid. _Stupid_.

Arya knew something would go wrong, but she was just so _tired. _It wasn't always this way. She remembered just before she had met the Seeker spirit, just as she was going to it, and how _excited _she had been. How _happy._

How _stupid_.

She always knew she was different. She saw things other people didn't see, she _felt _things other people couldn't feel, and she knew something would come to claim her and show her the world.

The Seeker.

It all made sense, just after she had taken in a tiny part of it. All the strange things she had seen, all the supernatural creatures and people and life all floating around, and suddenly she saw things with such clarity. It was exhilarating. And every single piece of knowledge, known and unknown to mankind, was suddenly hers. And she smiled at the thought of being a secret hero, helping prevent disasters and leading a secret double life.

But the spirit had lied.

The spirit, supposedly the most wise and kind entity in the universe, had _lied._

It didn't say it outright. Oh no, no. It was too smart for that. It was manipulative. It made it _seem _like there would be no catch. Obviously, the weight of the knowledge would be heavy, but it didn't tell her that it had been corrupted. That wasn't in the fine print.

But that was where things got… hazy. Because sometimes, Arya would wonder if it was really the _spirit _that had been corrupted. Or if it was really her.

Arya knew she wasn't perfect. She got angry and jealous and stubborn. But she thought she could count on the fact that she was a good person. She never hurt anyone or anything intentionally. Not even insects - they had life and deserved to live as much as she did. And one time, she accidentally elbowed her friend in the stomach, and for the following week she walked around with a huge brick of guilt weighing her down. She even gave her friend a card. She knew she shouldn't feel _that _bad, and that it had been an accident, but she couldn't help herself. She was _good._

But was she always? Arya was tired of thinking about it. She had spent so much time wondering when exactly it was that she started having… thoughts. At first, she blamed it on the spirit, because it was like something else was spewing those dark ideas. But given that the spirit was in her, things got muddled up and messy, and she began to lose track of who was thinking what. She _was _the spirit, and the spirit was her, and the spirit couldn't really do anything for itself, so didn't that mean she was the one thinking those things? And she didn't think she was, but the moment she wondered if it was her, it was too late. The doubt had taken place, and Chaos milked it and aggravated it until she wasn't sure about anything. But did Chaos really do anything? Arya wasn't sure.

She hated what the thoughts did to her. She hated how they made her feel. And sometimes, she thought she understood why Chaos did what he did, but then that scared her more than anything. And along with her rapidly deteriorating emotional state, her physical state was not too far behind.

She was tired. Did she mention that before? Arya knew that something still wasn't right, not completely. Even though she took in all the power, she still kept a strong, tight hold on it, because she would _not _accidentally lose control and hurt those she loved. She couldn't even stand to think of that. And the power kept suggesting things, dark things, and she kept pushing it down, somewhere deep down where it was temporarily hidden and she could sigh in relief, but then it would suggest something else, and she would suppress that, and she kept fighting and fighting and fighting herself, fighting on the inside, fighting Chaos on the outside, fighting, fighting, fighting, fighting, fighting…

Sometimes she wondered if it would get better. If she could just stop fighting, the endless, constant _fighting. _She had thought long and hard about… just ending it. Because in reality, the spark, her spark, her joy and excitement and will had just… gone. Long ago. Months ago – was it only months? It felt like years… no, centuries. Her birthday had passed, but there was no time to celebrate, only time to fight. Fighting, fighting, tiring, fighting… And the fear. She didn't know anything anymore. She had all the knowledge in the universe, but she didn't know anything about herself. She couldn't trust herself. She was dangerous. Volatile. She'd sneeze, and then – bam! A tree next to her would burst into flames. She knew why. She kept boxing in the power deep inside, and it didn't like to be boxed in, oh no. It wanted to break free, and she kept fighting it from exploding out and incinerating the earth, but sometimes she'd slip and do something as simple as sneeze and it would break free. Just a little. And of course, that would scare her more than anything - losing control - but the _fear _made her lose control even more. And the thing that angered her the most, the thing that seemed like a joke, an added insult to everything, like whatever supernatural entity decided the universe needed a Seeker wanted to make her suffer even more, like all the douchey angels and creatures needed something to laugh at when they added to the general pain of the world, was that she was _stuck_.

Immortality. As if the spirit was like, 'Hah. Screw you.'

She would slip and break her skull and it would mend in a few seconds. She would get poisoned and beaten, she'd drown and even implode, but within a few minutes... poof. Good as new. She would endure torture from Chaos' stupid blasts of energy, and it would take a bit longer, but within a few hours her body would be sore, but fighting fit. But the one thing it couldn't seem to heal was her emotional state.

Of course.

But Arya knew it would be too much for the spirit to ease up her mind as well. Because that would _help _her, and _that _would be absurd.

So she thought about how she could do it. End the pain. The suffering. Because another thing the spirit lied about was the pain. Yes, she could now feel every living creature on the planet, she could feel the very existence of all beings.

But she could also feel their pain.

And when there's more than six billion people, billions and billions of plants and animals, and of course, millions of gods and supernatural creatures, which can all feel pain – yes, plants too – that's a lot of suffering for one person to feel.

But Arya didn't mind at first. She could help people! That was what was important.

But did she really help people? Or was she just adding to all that pain? Was she even doing good?

So she thought about how she could do it. She was immortal to other things, but would she survive an attack on herself? Would the spirit leave her eventually? In fact, why hadn't the spirit left her already? She was obviously not worthy for it. She was a pathetic excuse of a human who was definitely not the kind or wise person it thought she was. So why hadn't it left? She decided it must have been because it was corrupted by the last Seeker and didn't know kind from evil. That was probably why it was still with her. Because she was a _monster._

Monster… where did that word come from? She didn't remember thinking of herself that way… wait, no, she did. She must have. Max thought she was, so it must be true. Max always guided her, helped her, and she killed him. Basically. In fact, she vaguely recalled being so excited after getting the power of the spirit for that reason. With her new power, she could find him! She could find him, turn him back, and apologize for _everything. _

And the spirit was like, 'Hah. Screw you.'

She searched and searched but couldn't find him, but she wasn't sure if it was because he was already dead or if it was because the spirit was lying again and just not letting her find him.

Was that when she first realized it had lied to her?

But then she started hearing his voice. It was very faint at first. But she was happy, so _happy, _and she thought it was a sign, him calling out to her to rescue him.

Then it grew louder, and she could actually hear what he was saying.

The moment he told her to kill herself to be with him, she knew it was Chaos messing with her. Because Max would never say that to her. He was too kind.

But then he must have really seen her, seen what she did everyday, and he started saying other things. And while it was true Arya was occasionally worried about her turning bad, hearing those things from Max just… It didn't break her. She refused to let a stupid trick from Chaos break her. It just hurt.

At one point, Arya had remembered that Sam had experienced a similar thing with Lucifer. Always in his head, yelling, and Sam somehow got rid of him. How did he solve it? How did he remember reality?

Oh, right. His older brother had helped him.

Then Max started saying things that Arya had been thinking about, dark things, or did he say them and _then_ Arya thought of it? Arya didn't remember. But he became disgusted with her. And his voice wouldn't stop. Try as she might, she couldn't shut out Chaos' magic trick, because in all honesty, it had stopped being Chaos' magic a long time before. Arya couldn't stop Max's voice, which used to be so kind and soft but was now disgusted, scornful, harsh, loud, so very _loud, _and he would yell things at her throughout the day and into the night, and after a few weeks Arya stopped even trying to sleep because it was pointless with Max.

So Max, and Chaos, and the spirit, and power, and destruction and fighting and tiredness and pain and everything began to overwhelm her and Arya wondered just how far her immortality would go.

But she never tried anything. Not because she couldn't bring herself to – or was that partly why? But something always came up. There was always a disaster to stop, Chaos to fight, something to do, and no rest, no sleep, no nothing. And people always managed to get themselves in some trouble, something she always had to come fix. And Arya started wondering if people even deserved her help. So many bad people out there, hurting, adding to _her _pain, and here she was, _helping _those ingrateful… And she would stop herself, realizing that it wasn't really _her_ thinking. But was it? No, there were good people out there, right? But so few… so few people willing to do good, to help, and even those few were being corrupted, going bad, turning, just like she was…

And then, yesterday, she woke up in Haiti. She had no idea how she got there, and she did not remember teleporting there – besides, she had stopped teleporting a while ago, it just took too much effort – but she was in Haiti. And she got up, turned around, and the first thing she saw was a pile of corpses.

That's when she searched her mental news and realized a tsunami had just occurred. And she felt out and realized, horrified, that Chaos' aura was no where near.

It had to have been her.

And after _everything, _after her own duty, which was to protect, and save, and _help, _she had just caused… She didn't know what to do.

So today, when Chaos had ripped a hole to another dimension in Atlanta as a clear statement that he wanted to fight there, Arya had gone even though she knew she would lose. She had been feeling the strain and struggle more and more each time they fought, and she had tried ignoring the sinking feeling that one day, she wouldn't be able to beat him, but now, she just didn't care. She knew she was in no condition to fight him, but she went, and she fought him. She didn't even try. In all honesty, it wasn't as much of a fight as a torture session, and she didn't even bother trying to hit Chaos back. She just put her energy into closing the rip in the dimension and reversing time to before the black hole caused by the rip had sucked every person into oblivion, and after she accomplished that, she tried half-heartedly to dodge his attacks. But she didn't care anymore. And when Chaos hit her with that strange looking energy pulse, something occurred to her.

She had turned.

That had to be why she blacked out and killed all those people in Haiti. And the spirit was corrupted or something so it just made her forget. And she couldn't even remember why she was fighting Chaos. Or fighting the power, fighting herself. Why was she fighting?

For once, Max's voice was quiet. She took that as a sign that she must be right in her assumption, and so she sat down by the lake and looked at the nature and animals she used to love so much. She couldn't feel anything anymore.

She wasn't sure of anything except that she had no right to live. She was dangerous, and she was… she was just evil. The spirit had made a mistake, so the last _right _thing she could do was correct that.

And then Sam and Dean had shown up.

Strangely, it had taken her a while to remember them. She had to drag their faces out of a sluggish memory from so long ago, when there were smiles and when there was sleep and happiness.

And she just couldn't bring herself to get away from that happy memory.

But she knew her duty. She knew they were not safe when they were by her. She was evil. She would hurt them. So instead of doing the right thing and using energy to go herself, she told them to leave.

Of course, they didn't. Something had popped into her mind… what was it? _Rule number one: We never listen to anyone. Not angels, not other hunters… Hell, most of the time we don't even listen to each other… _Another happy memory from a time that did not belong to her. And she got angry at them, because they could be so _difficult _sometimes, couldn't they see she would hurt them? And so she had made the mistake of groaning at them, and of course, a hot wind from wherever had thrown the boys back and hurt them.

The fear returned then, the fear of herself, someone she didn't know at all, but for some reason, the boys wouldn't leave.

Stupid idiots.

So she steadied herself and began the painful process of locking away her power, compartmentalizing it, so that she could make sure she didn't hurt her friends again... or worse. And it worked. It slowly worked. She was talking to them… _talking_, to actual people! Of course, she talked to Chaos, but that was more like insults and blackmail than talking. And talking to her friends reminded her of something, something she had forgotten a long time ago… God, what was it? Arya couldn't remember anymore.

Because then they had asked her to tell them what happened to those first few people she had killed. Way before she had taken in the full power, her _friends, _Blake… _What were their names?_ She couldn't forget them, no, no, no, no, _no_ if she forgot them how would she stay good and remember her mistakes they were her penance what will she do if she forg… _Tara. _Tara, and… _Eva. _Tara and Eva and Blake. Blake and Tara and Eva. Thank god. She remembered.

But no. They had asked her what had happened.

And then Max started shouting again.

And Arya was so _tired, _and memories of her friends and what happened bubbled up from a sealed off area of her mind, and she had told herself she'd never relive it, just remember their names and how to honor them, but the memories came back, and Max came back, and everything came back to her – the pain, the evil – _everything. _But most of all, the tiredness. And she finally lost it.

Words started gushing from her mouth, and she couldn't control it anymore, and everything was crashing down on her, and she kept talking and _talking _and the memories kept coming and coming and –

Arya couldn't take it anymore.

She was done with it all.

Done with everything.

So she finally did it.

She _let go_.

It was almost nice, actually. Not really _nice_, but just better than what she had been feeling for the months before. Compared to the agony and pain from before, she felt an almost pleasant... _emptiness_. Like all the horrible, torturous _feeling_ had finally gone. She could feel tears on her cheeks, and she knew there were two men somewhere near her… Who were they? It didn't matter. What mattered was the blissful feeling of _nothing_. She was just letting it all _go_ - the power, the pain, the thoughts, the yelling - letting it all leave her. And she couldn't feel anything.

Except relief.

**xxxxx**

**Just wanted to let you guys see into Arya's mind to give more context as to what's been going on to our favorite Seeker in the past few months :D Poor girl...**

**So, if you're still confused - which I understand, this is kind of confusing - to clarify, Max isn't really disgusted with Arya: Chaos planted the voice into her head, and Arya is so scared of herself that she starts subconsciously feeding that voice with her own thoughts, and her own power makes Max start to torment her until she forgets that he isn't real. Sadly, she doesn't have Dean around to help her remember reality. Also, the strange pulsating energy blast that Chaos hit her with in the recent battle in Atlanta caused her to crack a little, and when she suddenly realized she had "turned", that's because of the blast and not really her. That energy blast kind of throws off her judgment (even more than it already is) and causes her to distract herself from creating Max but also causes her to form darker thoughts. Who knows what would have happened if the Winchesters hadn't shown up...**

**Finally, time for something new! How about a little game?  
><em>"And talking to her friends reminded her of something, something she had forgotten a long time ago… God, what was it? Arya couldn't remember anymore."<br>_Did you figure out what that something is? Special prize for whoever can tell me!**

**Until next time, please review! And once again, let me know how _you _would like the ending to be! Maybe I'll make it that way :) As for me, I'm still not quite sure how I want it to end, but I like how this chapter came out! Do you? Let me know! :D**


	16. Ignore This Note

**Wow. It's been almost a year.**

**When I began writing this, I was an underclassman. Since my last update, I went through my entire junior year. Two seasons (not very good ones, sadly) of Supernatural have passed.**

**Wow.**

**One thing hasn't changed - I still hate endings. Whenever I come up with these stories, I never finish them. But, as my good friend Chuck once said, "Endings are hard. But then again, nothing really ever ends." **

**So this is the end. Maybe Arya blew up the planet. Maybe Sam and Dean got to her and helped her. Whatever you like. I can't bring myself to write an ending for this because it won't be good enough. **

**And I know you're probably pretty pissed (I would be too if someone did this to me), but if junior year has taught me anything, it's that people will always be doing things to piss you off. Will you take it in stride or let it get to you?**

**I still can't believe how long this story came out to be, and how many hours I spent writing it. I still can't believe so many people, from all over the world, have actually read my work. Thank you so much for all of your reviews - they really did make my day.**

**If you can get over your intense hatred for me and forgive me for pulling this stunt (you know I'm only ending it because I really have no other options) take a look at my blog that I've started on Medium. My username is Arya Granger. I've also started a publication on Medium called Teen Trek, and I'd really appreciate it if you could take a look at it and follow. (If you'd like to write for the publication, email me at grangerarya at gmail dot com.) I'd love to get reviews on it from you amazing people like I got for this fanfic.**

**Until next time, friends. Stay awesome.**


	17. Chapter 16

**Welp. Sorry about the last update. I'm not sure if I've said this before (sarcasm), but I ****_really _****hate endings in a way that is probably unhealthy (shoutout to Eleven for ripping out the last page of every book! but I don't go that far). **

**Anyway, you wonderful readers deserve an ending. I'm going to try doing this one chapter at a time because I can't really envision an ending yet. But I tried! I'm sorry if it's terrible and nothing like what you hoped for. Feel free to disregard my ending and make your own. I do that a lot (shoutout to Riordan and the entire Heroes of Mount Olympus series. -.-). **

**AnYwAy!111!1 Please read and review and enjoy and have a WoNdErFuL day! :)**

**xxxxxxxx**

"Sam!"

Dean didn't know what he had expected – he could barely hear his own voice in the storm, so he didn't expect Sam to hear him either. The very grass that they were clutching to prevent themselves from flying away was nearly being uprooted by the wind. They didn't have much time.

He struggled to cast his eyes up and caught a glimpse of Arya still in her crazy little bubble shield, probably unaware of what she was doing. He had thought about struggling forward to reach her, but then he had realized that any leaves, birds, or branches that touched her bubble simply disintegrated.

That didn't look too tempting.

_She's gone through a lot, _Dean realized, _but this needs to stop. How do we get through to her? _Their previous attempts had been anything but helpful. In fact, their questions seemed to have set her off and caused her whole breakdown in the first place. It was obvious to them that Arya had no faith in herself, and given that she was a sweet, sensitive kid – even though she tried to act tough on the outside – Dean could see through it and knew that deep down, she was afraid of herself.

He would know. After all, they were basically the same person.

_But how to get through to her?_

Sam was thinking along the same lines. However, he had noticed something Dean hadn't. There was no logical way that they should have still been holding on to some meager tufts of grass. They should have flown away along with the nearby trees and animals a long time ago. He took this as a sign that Arya was not lost. Deep down, some intrinsic part of her must still be shielding the Winchesters from harm, and Sam wasn't sure if he was being optimistic or just plain foolish, but he believed that Arya would never hurt them – intentionally, of course, or unintentionally.

So it was to Dean's alarm that Sam began to painstakingly crawl over to Arya's bubble of doom.

"Sam! What the hell are you doing?" Dean yelled. He made a grab at Sam's ankle but missed.

Sam pretended he didn't hear him. Besides, if he turned his head around to reply, he would probably lose his hold and fly off. He focused on his path forward, arm by arm, now foot here, another foot there… Years of hunter's training and acquiring muscle paid off, and just as he finally reached the edge of the enclosure, the wind died down completely. Everything went still.

Sam stood up and looked around him. He seemed to have come inside another, larger bubble of calm. _The eye of the storm, _Sam mused. Dean was still a few yards away, yelling his head off, and Sam tried to gesture and mouth something like _It's ok, _but he wasn't sure if Dean could see him well through the wind.

Another thing that was strange was that there was no sound. Everything was silent, and compared to the deafening roar from the storm just a few feet away, the silence pressed down on Sam's ears uncomfortably.

The younger hunter turned to study the bubble Arya had subconsciously encased herself in. It was tinged blue and floated a few inches off the ground, so that it and Arya within was suspended in midair. A closer look inside revealed that Arya was no longer crying – which relieved Sam, because it had _hurt _hearing her cry like that – but had her eyes closed, as if she were asleep. A floating leaf in Sam's peripheral vision caught his attention, and he watched as it drifted lazily towards Arya's bubble.

The moment the leaf touched the barrier, it disappeared.

Sam stiffened at the thought of being obliterated, but he decided there was no other option. _I just have to take my chances and hope I can shake her awake and calm her down, _Sam decided. _This is the only way to stop the storm. I stopped the apocalypse once. I can do it again._

Sam took a deep breath and reached out his hand. It hovered an inch away from the bubble, apprehensive, nervous. _It's now or never, _he thought to himself_._ He moved his hand forward.

The barrier was cool to the touch – except he wasn't really touching anything; his hand phased right through along with the rest of him. Sam looked around. The bubble he was in was strangely bright, and yet it was dark at the same time, creating a bizarre effect and making him slightly disoriented. He turned to look at where Arya had been sitting, but she was gone.

_Great, _he thought to himself. He searched for any trace of her, but the strange haze made it impossible to see anything. The bubble he was in was endless and empty.

"Arya?" he called out. Sam took a few steps back to see if he could exit the way he came. But there was no barrier. Only more emptiness. _Crap. No way out. _"Arya? Where are you?" he called out through the haze. Silence greeted him. He knew she had to be here _somewhere_. And it was becoming obvious to him that he could walk around for a long time and never find her. So, he decided to take his next best shot. He turned back toward the center and slowly started stepping forward.

"Arya, listen to me," he started talking to the wide expanse of nothing. "I'm not going to say I know what you're going through, because I don't. But... hear me out, okay?" More silence. He trudged forward. "I know what it's like to have an immense amount of power at your control. I know what it's like to lose that control, and… there's a feeling you get that's like no other, of knowing what you can do and using that to get what you want, no holding back." Memories of a certain angel riding him to prom were revived, and he paused as he cleared his head before he went on. "The way I was able to fight it? And win? The way I got to where I am now? Was by _letting myself be helped_." _And dealing with Lucifer in the pit. Ignoring the whole soulless disaster that happened afterwards. _He ignored those parts and focused on the good. "I've always had Dean. He's always been there for me, through it all." He wasn't quite sure how to say the next part, so he proceeded cautiously. "Now, I know you... lost your brother. I know you... feel alone. But I want you to know, Dean and I, we're here for you. You're a good kid," he added, and he genuinely meant it. "Just letting go of everything is tempting. Believe me, I know. A lot of times, I wonder if there's a point to doing what we do. There's always going to be more monsters to hunt, more people getting hurt, and this life could be a whole lot better not living in a car 24/7. It seems like this... endless cycle that never ends, and you can't do anything to change it. But over time... Over time, I've come to realize what the point is." He was suddenly aware of how the air seemed to buzz in anticipation. She was listening, somehow, somewhere. What he said now would make all the difference in whether or not he would see his brother again.

"The point... is that it's what we're good at. It's our _place_ in the world. It's not like we're obligated to do it. Technically, we could stop hunting whenever we wanted. But we don't. Not because we have no choice, but because we know that we're making a difference this way. We have our bad days just as many times as good ones, but we work together, find a way through them, and try to make today another good day and save a few people while we're at it. And for you, Arya," he said gently. "It's the same thing. Work with us. Let us try to help you find a way through the bad days, and you'll find yourself doing just fine." He smiled and gestured towards what he thought was where he had entered from. "Dean would say the same thing, but, uh, he'd probably add a few bad references to old movies along the way." Was it just him, or did the air seem less tense than it had before he made a crack at some humor? "So come on... He's out there, right now, waiting for us." Sam stood with bated breath.

After an agonizingly quiet minute, the air began to shimmer a few feet in front of him. Sam had to shield his eyes and the spot burst into a bright light, and when he removed his hand, Arya was standing in front of him, worn out and looking completely beat, but in one piece. She glanced up at Sam with big brown eyes, and looked back at her. They stood like that, for a few moments, before Arya looked down silently, holding her arm out in a quiet request for some assistance. Sam immediately made his way over to her and slid his shoulder under her arm for support, and he gently helped guide her towards the shining portal that had appeared amidst the haze. The moment they stumbled through it, the portal snapped shut behind them.

Dean was gaping at them from a few yards away, lying on his stomach and covered in grass and dirt.

**xxxxxx**

**What do you think? Hopefully that wasn't as anti-climatic as it sounds to me... Let me know how you want it to end. Seriously. Chances are your ideas are 10/10 better than the ones I don't currently have and I will write your ending. **

**Also, I feel like this is going to be my last Supernatural fic. I mean, it was my first, but I won't write any more for Supernatural after this - not that I write much anyway. I still watch the show, but it's lost its spark. I keep waiting for it to get better, but it's just repeating the same things - Sam (my bby) exists solely to get hit on the head by a bottle/rod/insert other ouch object by someone sneaking up on him from behind. Dean exists to get angry over random things and to reinforce sexist thinking. The show's always been a little sexist, but I feel like lately it's gotten worse, and it's making it hard to enjoy the show. That's my opinion - don't hate just because you don't agree - and I thought I'd share because I'm curious to know what you guys think about the show now. Do you still enjoy it as much as you did a few seasons ago? Let me know in your reviews if you so choose.**

**I'll see y'all in the next chapter. :)**


	18. Chapter 17

**I've been trying to figure out how to make things work and sound believable and not too bleksjfld, so I've been rewriting a lot. I figured I might as well give y'all something by now, because something is better than nothing, even if it's (really) short. Don't worry, I have the next chapter written already and it'll come; it just needs a bit of work. Until then, enjoy! **

**xxxxxxxx**

"Arya!" Dean exclaimed as he rolled to his feet, brushing the grass off of his jeans. He exchanged a quick glance with his brother, who nodded, conveying much of what had happened in the past few minutes through this simple gesture. Dean rushed over to the pair, offering to support Arya and give Sam a break – he was in very obvious need of one – but Sam shook his head.

"It's ok. I got her," Sam said in an undertone. Dean nodded and then looked around at their surroundings. Arya's storm had abruptly stopped while his brother had been inside that weird, glowing bubble. Whatever Sammy had done had worked. _Thank God, _Dean thought. _Another few minutes and me and the whole city would be toast._ The storm had definitely left its mark; torn up trees, broken windows from buildings farther out, and general chaos of people picking themselves up and dusting themselves off surrounded the trio for a solid one-mile radius as far as Dean could tell. Thankfully, no one had been too close to the eye of the storm, but he could see various people tinged with splotches of red from being injured by flying objects. He spotted a couple a hundred yards away staring at them – particularly at Sam and Arya and the fading blue bubble they had just emerged from – and Dean decided it was time to leave. "Come on," he said. "Group meeting at the motel, let's go. Now." He looked back at Arya, not quite sure what to expect from her, but surprisingly, she listened without question. He started leading the way and had taken four steps when he heard her mutter something.

"What was that?" Sam asked her, gently.

Arya kept her eyes down, refusing to look at anything but the ground. "I…" she spoke in a barely audible voice. "I did this. I caused this chaos," she whispered.

Sam looked at his older brother, his eyes pleading him to say something. Dean could tell that Sam seemed to think that Dean's words would do better than his for this situation. _Since when am I the better pep talker? _he wondered as he told Arya, "That's what we're going to figure out, kid. And we're going to fix things." He turned around without looking to see the effect of his words and continued marching forward.

**xxxxxxx**

**Yaay for things maybe perhaps looking like they'll get better? Or will it all crumble apart and literally blow up in their faces? We'll see soon! **

**And it looks like from your wonderful reviews (thanks! I appreciate them :D) that I'm not the only one who feels this way about the show. They got renewed for another season, and I'm not jumping for joy and happily ranting to friends as usual. Hopefully, the finale and next season will get better.**


	19. Chapter 18

**Just kidding! I made myself fix it up right away for you lovely readers! Contrary to its seemingly normal size, this chapter took a looooooot of brain juice and a looooong time to write.**

**Without! Further! Ado!**

**Here it is!**

**xxxxxxx**

"So," Sam began after handing Arya a mug of hot chocolate and sitting on the opposite bed in the motel. "How're you holding up?"

Arya stared intently at the mug for a few seconds before responding. "Ok," she said quietly.

Dean had been pacing back and forth in the incredibly frustratingly small room up until now. His arm ached like a son of a bitch – it had been banged up pretty bad by flying debris while he had been clinging onto the ground for dear life – but he ignored it. He had wanted to get down to business the moment they had reached the motel room, but Sam had given him one of those judgmental looks, so while Sam made the cocoa and Arya sat more still and mum than Dean had ever thought possible, Dean was forced to make himself not go insane from the awkward silence that ensued. It seemed that now that she had something warm in her hands, Sam thought it appropriate to begin talking, which meant that Dean could start talking too.

"You're "ok," as in, emotionally-stable-and-in-control ok?" Dean asked as he sat down next to his brother, facing Arya and ignoring the pointed glare from Sam.

More staring at the mug. "I guess. Yeah," she replied. "I…" she started, then timidly cleared her throat. "I feel better now," she said, a bit more audible this time. "Whatever I did by that lake got rid of a lot of excess power I had… pent up inside of me. I'll be good for some time. I… I don't know how long."

"Well, that's good," Dean said with a breath of relief. "That's a good start. That gives us plenty of time to decide our next move."

"Arya," Sam started after another few moments of silence. "I said that we'd help you. Now we have time. Start from the beginning, ok? Tell us everything you can."

"_Everything_," Dean continued, his voice slightly more forceful than his brother's. "We need to know everything about what you've done, and why you've done it. No more secrets. Alright?" He focused intently on the teenager, and when she kept silently staring down, he edged forward in his position until his knees almost touched hers. "_Alright_?" he asked again, unrelenting.

"Yeah," Arya mumbled. She looked up at Dean and this time held his gaze, her eyes hardening. "Yeah, ok. After all, it's not like I have anything to lose, right?" She chuckled emptily. "You guys already hate me. My family thinks I'm dead, and they're doing _better _now that I'm gone. What friends I had left think I'm dead too. At least I haven't killed them yet," she added darkly.

"Arya, we don't – we don't hate you," Sam said earnestly.

"Really?" she asked, her voice dripping in sarcasm. "I'm the one who needlessly got you guys involved in the case before you even knew anything about Chaos. I sent you Chaos' venom and caused you all that pain. Chaos wasn't lying – I killed those hunters and angels and my–" Here she faltered for a second before resuming her list. "I killed those people in Haiti with the earthquake, blackmailed Crowley into keeping his mouth shut about my location, led you guys into countless dangerous situations I could have handled on my own… Should I go on?" she asked bitterly, but then quickly looked down again, seemingly regretting her outburst.

"We don't hate you," Sam reiterated firmly. "We just need you to explain. We want to understand what's going on."

Arya fiddled with the handle of the mug for a few moments. "I… I don't know where to begin," she said softly.

"Well, how about with what you just mentioned," Dean offered impatiently. "Why'd you get us involved with something obviously completely out of our league?"

"I… Because, uh…" Arya trailed off, then shook her head. She looked back up at the brothers, her resolve seemingly strengthened. "Alright," she said a bit more firmly. "Alright. I… I got you guys involved because I didn't want to be… _alone_. I knew all about you two, what with the vast knowledge from being the Seeker and all, and when you guys showed up questioning students, I knew that I could throw you off and you'd leave and that would be that. But I just… I was already doubting myself, for re– for good reason. And the thought of having someone who I could talk to about these things, about the supernatural in general, even if I was constantly lying to them, was just… nice. I wanted… I _needed_ someone to talk to. I didn't exactly have many hunter friends."

Sam nodded, encouraging her to continue. He could understand this. In fact, he had already kind of guessed this. What he wanted to know was everything else. Dean asked the question Sam had been wondering about.

"Then why hide who you were? Why not just tell us everything we needed to know, tell us about Chaos and you being the Seeker? God knows things would've been easier that way," he added, to Sam's disapproval.

"Because I wanted someone to know who I was before I turned into something else," Arya responded steadily. "I could tell you that it was because knowing the identity of the Seeker would place giant targets on your heads, and it was safer with you not knowing. And that's true, you were safer not knowing who I was. Everyone's safer not knowing. But… that's not the real reason. I kept telling myself I would never take in the full power of the Seeker and risk getting turned into… well, into this," she said disgustedly, gesturing at herself. "But deep down, I knew that… I would have to eventually. And… I wanted someone to know who I was before, to remember me as the person I wanted to be remembered as: energetic, funny, sarcastic, _good _and entirely normal me."  
>"I wouldn't say entirely normal," Dean interrupted. "That whole teen hacker gig with the street cameras? And the sleeping in the park thing? You have a strange definition of normal," he chuckled, but stopped as pain flared up from his injured arm and all thoughts of the current conversation came to a standstill. Sam looked at him concernedly.<p>

"Dude, you sure you don't want me to take a look at that?" Sam asked. Dean grimaced as he shook his head.

"It's fine," he insisted. "I can fix it up later."

"I can… I can help," said Arya quietly, and Dean turn to look at her. "If you're… ok with it," she offered, cautiously meeting his eyes. Dean stared at her, trying to gauge if he trusted her enough to let her use her mojo after everything he'd seen her do. She gazed down at his arm, unwilling to hold his stare, but he had seen the sincerity in her eyes. He nodded, slowly, and held out his arm.

Arya barely moved her hand an inch, and Dean immediately felt the pain recede. He watched in amazement as his bruised and bloodied arm went from purple and red to completely normal and spotless. He gingerly flexed out his arm. Fully functional. No injury. He looked back at the teenager across from him. She was observing him intently, waiting for his reaction. "Thanks," Dean said, and he meant it. "That was pretty awesome," he added, smiling, attempting to get her to relax.

Arya continued staring at Dean, her face unreadable. She tilted her head to the side, as if wondering whether or not she should say what she was thinking. Dean coughed in the uncomfortable silence.

"I never slept in the park. I was being chained up by Chaos and held hostage in the forest," Arya gave as a delayed answer.

Dean had not been expecting that. "Oh," was all he managed to say.

"You said no secrets," Arya replied, but without any conviction. She just looked tired. "And the reason why I told you guys about the cameras and led you to the warehouse was because I knew Crowley would be there. He would give you more info that you needed to learn more about Chaos, info I couldn't tell you without you two getting suspicious." She paused to take a sip of the hot chocolate and moisten her cracking throat.

The brothers processed this information. "Well, to be honest, we knew something was up for a while," Sam told her. "We just sorta chalked it up to family or friend issues. We never thought it would be… well, Seeker problems," he finished awkwardly.

Arya shrugged, then drank some more. Dean cleared his throat pointedly, and when she looked at him questioningly, he said, "And what about the venom? Why'd you send that to us when you knew what it could do?" He didn't bother to hide the anger in his voice. This was probably the thing that had bothered him the most in the past few months.

"Well…" she began. She opened her mouth as if to say something and then frowned. Then she tried again. "As Seeker, I can kind of… _feel _certain things. Like… I can sense certain paths of the future, but it's not like seeing into the future, but…" She sighed. "Sorry, I don't know how to explain this well."

"It's ok," Sam said reassuringly. "Take your time."

Arya give him a thankful look, and then thought for a few seconds, after which she nodded, the gears obviously setting into place in her exhausted mind. "Ok. So, as Seeker, I can sense what's about to happen. No specifics. It's pretty vague. I've always been able to do it, actually, and merging with the Seeker spirit, even though I hadn't done it completely, made it easier and clearer. After you two left my house the first time, I felt for the best possible future and knew that the best way to clue you guys in on Chaos was to send you his venom. I knew that… Sam, I knew you'd touch it and go through a lot of pain. But I could feel Cas on this path, and I knew that he'd most likely heal you. But also, I thought…" she trailed off, her determined voice now unsure.

"You thought what?" Dean asked unhappily. Her "sensing" Cas _potentially_ healing Sam did not excuse the pain she put him through.

"I… I thought that the next time I saw you guys, I would be able to help Sam feel better and that maybe you guys would… like me more." Her cheeks were tinged red in shame. "I wasn't sure if you would care to keep talking to me, so I thought maybe if I healed Sam fully of the venom's after effects, you'd want to… to be my…" Her face was so red now Dean thought he could fry an egg on it.

"Be your friend?" Sam completed. Arya stared intently at the ground. "Arya, we liked you from the start. You're a good kid, regardless of whether or not you have magical healing abilities. You didn't have anything to worry about."

"Besides, our standards are _really_ low. I'm talking below the ground, as-long-as-you-don't-kill-us low," Dean interjected only half-jokingly.

"_Which _you exceeded a hundred times over," Sam finished, sending a judgmental look at Dean that clearly said that was the stupidest thing for him to say_._

Arya let out a small, sad chuckle. "How can you guys be so forgiving? After… after everything I did to you?" She gazed up at them with wide, brown eyes.

Sam and Dean looked at each other. "I've just… always believed in you, Arya," Sam stated. "I could sense that you were a good person. Then I got to know you, and I knew for sure that you were kind and would do everything you could to help those around you. I mean, sure, I didn't like reliving those bad memories, but you had a valid reason for everything you did, and no matter how bad things got, you helped us out in the end. You're your worst critic. Believe me, I know how that feels. Sometimes, you need others to forgive you first before you can understand that… you deserve to be forgiven." He shared a thoughtful look with Dean before smiling genuinely at the young girl in front of him, and she couldn't help but smile back. _He understood. _

Dean sighed. He admired his brother – Sam was always the strong one, getting through the most impossible of situations – but sometimes, Sam was too easy with forgiving others. "Look," Dean addressed Arya. "I'm not going to pretend I wasn't pissed off then or that I'm not still pissed now. But… I can understand why you kept things from us and did what you did. I get it. I won't hold you to what you did to us. But… Arya, we still need to know what you did to the others. The ones Chaos said you… well, you killed."

Arya deflated. Whatever happiness and confidence she had gathered in the past hour disappeared. "I… I can't. I can't talk about it," she spoke hesitantly.

"Well, tough luck," Dean countered. "Like you agreed. No more secrets."

The brothers waited as an incredibly long minute ticked by and Arya said nothing. Finally, Sam broke the silence. "Arya, these things are better out than bottled in." He placed a consoling hand on her knee. "Nothing you say will make us hate you."

"No one can hate me more than I do," she said in a tiny voice. "I just… don't like thinking about it."

"No one likes thinking about these things," Dean replied, eyebrows furrowed. "But whatever happened, it's eating you up from the inside. I can tell. Sam can tell. Chaos sure as hell could tell. You've got to get past this, whatever it is, and the only way people get through these things is by talking about it. I'm sorry that's how it is, but that's how it is."

More silence.

"You're… you're right. I just…" she trailed off. After a few more moments, she dropped her head further down than Dean thought possible and closed her eyes. "It…"

"_It was right after I merged with the Seeker spirit."_

**xxxxxxx**

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**Please review and let me know what you think!**


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